Bride of the Yellow King
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Minako travels to England to star in a new movie certain to launch her long-held dream of becoming an idol. Upon arriving at the studio though, the Guardian of Love finds that her costar in the movie is a revived Kunzite. Kunzite claims that he's been brought back to stop an unspeakable evil connected to the movie, but Minako wonders if she can trust him.
1. Casting Call

**Introduction:** When I first made my account here on this site, I had originally planned to write a bunch of Sailor Moon fanfics, as Sailor Moon was one of the shows that really got me into the world of anime and manga. Unfortunately those plans were derailed when I chose to write a single Pokemon story that somehow spiraled outward into a massive AU series, along with several Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfics that were just as massive and a bunch of other little projects that turned out to be not so little. Somewhere along the line my plans for doing some major Sailor Moon stories were sadly forgotten.

Well, at the moment my current Yu-Gi-Oh! GX fanfic is on hiatus due to some personal issues, and I've once again come down with writer's block with my Pokemon stories. So with all that happening, and with me having reread the Sailor Moon manga again a couple of months ago, I've decided to try and go through with my original plans to do some Sailor Moon stories. The inspiration for this first major story comes from three places. The first is from a wonderful fanfic here on this site by Bethany89 called _A Scout's Wanderings_ , which I highly recommend. The second comes from a recently discovered book of short stories by an author named Robert W. Chambers called _The King in Yellow_. The third comes from a haunting dream I had back in junior high that I've never fully forgotten. So submitted for your approval here is a tale of romance in the face of unspeakable horror.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (nor _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 1: Casting Call

It was just before noon as Minako Aino looked out the window of the cab she was taking through the English countryside. Curled up asleep on the seat next to her was her talking feline companion, Artemis. Minako was quite excited about her current trip, because it meant the beginning of her career as a film star and idol. The blond still couldn't believe the twist of good fortune that had led to all this. Only three weeks ago, Minako had attended a local idol audition in the city, and when it was all over, a scout from a talent agency approached her to appear in the lead role of a new movie being made in England. Barely a year into college, and it seemed to Minako that her career was already taking off.

After another five minutes of driving through the rolling hills of the countryside, Minako's cab had made it to the village of Havenshire. It was a large village, but also seemed rather quaint in its own way; filled with brick buildings that were probably at least fifty or sixty years old, and little white houses and shops with tiled roofs colored the orange of autumn leaves. The town rested at the foot of another large hill, and as Minako looked at this hill she noticed a vast forest of trees totally leafless and colored in shades of dark-grey and black.

"Beautiful little town, ain't it Miss?" the cab driver asked Minako. "I always enjoy takin' fares 'ere. There's a nice li'l café I always like to stop at after droppin' people off called the Velvet Lily. You should check it out while you're 'ere."

"Thanks for the tip," Minako replied, not once taking her eyes off the vast dead forest on this hill. There was just something about the forest that unsettled her. "Say, what's the deal with that forest up on the hill? Was there a fire or something?"

"Oh? You mean the Blight Forest? Spookly lookin' place, ain't it? Accordin' to legend, the forest has been that way since the middle ages. The locals say that nothin' ever grows there. Why I 'eard once that someone tried to plant a new young tree on that land an' it just withered an' died right on the spot it did. They also say that the forest is full o' ghosts, though I wouldn't pay that talk no mind, Miss."

"How'd the forest get that way?"

"If you believe the locals, they say it was the doin's of the people livin' in a castle deep in the middle of the forest. They say back in the dark ages, some cult of witches an' warlocks took over the castle an' opened some kind a door to a place not meant to 'ave a door to at all. That door let some evil god come through an' poison the whole place. Like I said though, Miss. I'd pay that kind a talk no mind."

Minako nodded and turned her head back to look at the window. She tried to focus on the town of Havenshire itself, but couldn't help but turn her attention back to its rumor haunted dead forest. There was just something about the forest that didn't seem right at all. Unfortunately Minako couldn't tell if this wrongness she sensed was only an imagined danger or a real threat. The fact was that she couldn't totally discount the cab driver's story about the forest as mere legend, for she knew that there were magical dangers in the world and the galaxy as a whole, and as a Sailor Guardian she had faced such dangers many times.

"Well, 'ere we are, Miss," the cab driver spoke as he made another turn. "The lot of Eclipse View Studios."

The news that they had reached their destination allowed Minako to put the unsettling Blight Forest out of her mind. The location of the Studios was rather unimpressive; just a dirt lot with a bunch of sheds and trailers erected on it. Of course Minako admittedly wasn't expecting much. From what she had read, Eclipse View Studios was a fairly low-budget operation, though she had been assured repeatedly that the movie she would be starring in would be a smash hit. The cab stopped in front of a blue wooden trailer with white trim.

As Minako got out of the cab she picked up Artemis, waking the feline from his deep slumber. The cab driver had already gotten Minako's bags out of the trunk.

"You sure I can't drop you off at a hotel, Miss?" the driver asked as he set the bags on the ground next to Minako.

"The people running this place said to come straight here," Minako answered. "They already booked me a room at an inn and said they'd drive me there after I met with the director."

"Right then. Well, it was nice meetin' ya," the cab driver responded as he tipped his hat to her. "Good luck in this picture of yours."

With that, the driver got back in his cab and drove off. Minako watched as the cab left the lot.

Still clutched in Minako's arms, Artemis looked up at her. "I'm still not sure starring in this movie is a good idea. There's just something shady about the whole thing."

"Always have to be a stick in the mud, don't you?" Minako asked with a heavy sigh.

"Well you haven't had the best track record with this sort of thing. Remember the last big movie you were supposed to star in back in China?"

"Did you really have to bring that up? The last thing I want to think about is what happened with Ace! Besides, we know that this isn't a Dark Kingdom trap, since they're no longer around."

"True, but there's something fishy about all this. For one thing, that talent agent who scouted you seemed less than reliable. Plus there's the script for this movie they've given you. How come it's not finished?"

Minako had to admit that Artemis had a point. The movie that she was starring in was called _Bride of the Yellow King_. It was about a princess trapped in an arranged marriage to a mysterious king who was said not to be human, and of the princess's secret love affair with a common soldier. What was odd about the whole thing though was that it seemed Minako had only been given half the script for the movie.

Minako let out a heavy sigh. "You make some good points, Art. But I'm sure this thing about the script can be explained. Honestly, I think you're just being paranoid."

"I hope you're right, but I can't help but worry that we may have fallen into some sort of trap," Artemis insisted. "The Dark Kingdom may be long gone, along with Black Moon, the Death Busters, Dead Moon and Galaxia. But that doesn't mean that some brand new enemy hasn't shown up to take their place."

Once again, Minako had to admit that Artemis made a good point. Things had been very peaceful since they returned to their normal lives after Usagi had defeated Sailor Galaxia and the entity known as Chaos. In the few years that followed, Minako and the others had only transformed into Sailor Guardians to deal with the occasional human criminal that threatened the city. The sad truth was though that such a peace probably couldn't last forever. Minako once again began thinking of Blight Forest and wondered if the wrongness she sensed about it was indeed a true threat.

The door to the trailer opened, stirring Minako from her thoughts. Walking down the steps to greet her was a man with well-cut wavy brown hair. He was dressed in a suit with a red paisley tie, a green and brown sport coat that looked as though it had been made from the seat covers of a car built in the 1970s, and navy-blue slacks. On the man's face was the type of grin one might see on the face of a game show host or a used car salesman. This man was the agent that had scouted Minako for her new film role, Lyle Worthy.

"Aino, baby!" Lyle spoke enthusiastically as he came down the steps. "Glad you finally made it. Have a nice trip?"

"Um, yeah," Minako answered. "This is a beautiful town we're filming in."

"Sure is, sure is." Lyle raised his eyebrow when he saw Artemis still clutched in Minako's arms. "Hey, you brought your cat with you? Wait, what am I saying? You're young and talented! You have a right to be a little eccentric!" He patted Minako lightly on the back. "Come, come. The director of this picture is just anxious to see you."

Minako followed Lyle into the trailer. Sitting behind a small wooden desk inside was a short and very thin man with very pale skin wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck shirt. His dark hair was thinning and had greyed on the sides. He had a hooked nose, and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses with thin round frames.

"Ms. Aino, I'd like you to meet our director, Mason Hughes," Lyle introduced as Minako took a seat. "Mr. Hughes, I'd like to present you with our star."

"So… this is the young woman who will be playing our Princess Cassilda," Mason spoke as he tented his fingers. "Yes, yes… she's perfect! Just as I knew she would be. Tell me Ms. Aino, have you read the script?"

"What I have of the script anyway," Minako confirmed. "From what Mr. Worthy told me, I'll be playing Cassilda, a princess who's arranged to marry the mysterious King in Yellow. But the thing is, the script seems like it's only half finished."

"Indeed it is. Our head writer is still working on the second half. He wants it to be perfect, and perfect it must be. It is after all based upon a rather legendary play, and this movie must live up with that legend."

"And just what play is this movie based on?"

Mason leaned back in his chair. "Have you ever heard of _The King in Yellow_?"

"Um, that's one of the major characters in the movie. The one my character is supposed to marry."

"It's also the title of the play I'm speaking of, featuring the same character you speak of. Of course I'm not the least bit surprised that you haven't heard of it. Barely anyone remembers that the play exists in this day and age, and perhaps that is best so."

"How come?"

"Because they say anyone who reads the script for that play from beginning to end goes totally nuts," Lyle interjected as he moved to lean against the corner of Mason's desk. "It was written by some psycho a few hundred years ago."

"And… I'm supposed to star in a movie based on some cursed play?" Minako asked as a wave of uneasiness swept over her.

"Well we're not doing the actual play itself. That would be playing with fire," Lyle assured her. "A few other studios around the world once tried doing movie versions of this play and they all ended up getting ruined. But a movie only based on _The King in Yellow_ , that'll draw in big bucks!"

"Oh… well then, I hope that whatever ending your writer comes up with for this script will be a happy one," Minako declared. "From what I've read so far, this movie is turning out to be kind of a downer."

"Ah, but Ms. Aino… tragedy is a much higher art form than comedy," Mason told her. "Besides, this movie is meant to tell how sometimes love must be sacrificed in the name of duty and the greater good. That's a notion that's been lost on the people of this country for many years."

"Plus a downer is a sure ticket for an Oscar nomination," Lyle added.

"Now then Mr. Worthy, have you found an actor to play Cassilda's lover?" Mason asked.

"Yeah. I got a guy. Some no-name agency pushed him on me. His name's Keisuke Tenju. In fact he should be here any moment."

Almost as if on cue, the door opened, and walking in was tall and very dashing young man with long silver hair. He was dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt with the top two buttons undone, along with tight-fitting black jeans and brown shoes. Around his right wrist was a thin gold and silver bracelet decorated with some sort of odd rune-like symbols. Under different circumstances Minako would've been instantly love-struck upon seeing such a handsome young man, but in this instance she rose from her chair and moved as though ready to fend off an attack, because she recognized the face of her would-be costar. He may have been going by the name of Keisuke, but the face was that of Kunzite of the Shitennou, the generals of the Dark Kingdom.

Minako narrowed her eyes at this young man who had the same face as her old enemy from years ago. Artemis was at that moment on the ground glaring up at the young man; his back arched and his white fur standing on end. The one thing that Minako couldn't figure out was how Kunzite could be standing before her, because she and her friends had killed him years ago.

"Um, hello. I'm Keisuke Tenju," the Kunzite lookalike spoke. Minako noticed that he seemed to be a bit nervous. "I was told to report here?"

Lyle sighed and shook his head. "Oh boy. This ain't gonna work. Sorry Mr. Hughes, looks like we're gonna have to keep looking for a leading man."

"What? Why? I was told that this part was a sure thing!" Keisuke exclaimed. Minako couldn't help but question if she was really looking at Kunzite, as the dark general she knew was usually more calm and collected.

"Look kid, you're just not what we're looking for," Lyle told him.

"How the hell can you idiots say that?" a voice shouted from outside.

Storming into the trailer was a young-looking and extremely tall woman with long wavy red hair. Minako couldn't help but noticed how the redhead stood at least a foot taller than her friend, Makoto. She had on a red blazer with a white blouse and a red skirt that ended just above the knee. Covering her eyes was a pair of aviator sunglasses.

"Who the hell are you?" Lyle asked.

"Hilda Rasmussen, Valhalla Talent Agency," the redhead answered as she thrust a business card in Lyle's face. "I represent Mr. Tenju, and I have to say that I'm outraged that you think he isn't right for this part! I've read over your partial script for this movie, and it's clear to even a five-year-old that he's perfect! You want the guy playing the part of Cassilda's lover to be as handsome as she's beautiful. You want a forbidden romance with sex appeal, something that the fans will obsess over and write trashy fanfics about! These two have what you're looking for!"

"Ms. Rasmussen does have a point," Mason admitted. "Still, it seems from Ms. Aino's reaction that she may have a problem performing with Mr. Tenju."

"Oh… um, actually I think I might be able to work with him," Minako spoke. Her comment earned a raised eyebrow from Artemis. "I was just started because he looks so much like this guy I used to know. Bad ex-boyfriend. I can get past it though."

"Well then… since we're supposed to begin filming first thing tomorrow morning, I suppose we have no choice," Mason decided as he rose from his chair. "You have the part Mr. Tenju, but only on a trial basis. Now then Ms. Aino, Mr. Worthy has already arranged for transportation to take you back to your hotel. We begin shooting one of the first scenes tomorrow morning at 8:00, so I suggest you both spend the night rehearsing your lines."

With that, Keisuke and Hilda left the trailer. Minako followed soon after with Artemis walking close at her side.

"Mina! How can you even think of acting in a film with that guy?" Artemis whispered.

"I know, but… think about it Artemis. How can this be Kunzite?" Minako whispered back. "He's been dead for years now!"

Artemis sighed. "Good point. Still, I'm liking this movie role of yours less and less."

Minako saw Keisuke standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, looking out towards Blight Forest. "I think I better apologize to him for how I reacted. This movie will be a lot easier to do if the guy playing my boyfriend didn't think I was nuts."

The blond approached Keisuke with Artemis following close behind. "Hi. Look, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm Minako Aino. I'm sorry for how I reacted before, but you looked so much like me, uh… ex that I couldn't help but be startled." She bowed to Keisuke, who now gave her his full attention. "I look forward to working with you."

Keisuke smirked and bowed back. "And I look forward to working with you as well… Sailor Venus."

Letting out a startled gasp, Minako jumped back and glared at Keisuke. "It can't be… Kunzite!"

"I'm afraid so," Keisuke confirmed as his expression became more somber. He raised his hands in a show of surrender. "I perfectly understand your reaction, but I am not here as an enemy. The dark general you faced years ago no longer exists. I am the man I was before Queen Beryl corrupted my mind and altered my body."

"And we're just supposed to take your word for it?" Artemis asked. "How did you even come back from the dead anyway?"

"You can thank me for that," Hilda spoke as she suddenly stepped forward. She sighed and removed her sunglasses, revealing her dark cobalt eyes. "I knew this little reunion would be a bitch."

"Who are you?" Minako asked.

"That's… classified for right now. I can't risk revealing my true identity to the enemy I'm up against too soon, and this is an enemy you're up against too. This may be hard for the two of you to believe, but the four of us are on the same side."

Minako relaxed slightly. It seemed that neither Keisuke nor Hilda were going to start a fight, but she didn't trust either of them. "Start talking. First of all, how the hell is Kunzite of the four Shitennou here?"

"Like I said, I brought him back," Hilda answered. "It's a talent I share with the rest of the team I'm a part of. My comrades and I broke into your prince's apartment and swiped the stones of the Shitennou. Those stones, by the way, were essentially their star seeds. I'm surprised you and your comrades didn't realize that after the experience you had with that psycho bitch, Galaxia. Anyway, with my power, I was able to use Kunzite's star seed to revive him as the human he was before your Queen Beryl found and corrupted him a second time."

"You said your comrades took the stones for the other three Shitennou too," Artemis recalled. "Does that mean they've been revived as well?"

"Correct. And right now, each of them is on a different mission with the other members of my team around the world," Hilda revealed.

"And just what is the purpose of these missions?" Minako asked. "Or is that classified too?"

"A little bit. What I can tell you right now is that the stars are aligned in a way that makes it possible for some very bad things to come to this planet. If these entities have their way, they'll plunge this whole galaxy into chaos. My comrades and I are fighting like hell to prevent that from happening."

"Before you try asking me what this whole thing is about, Hilda has hardly told me anything about her mission either," Keisuke interjected. "I also haven't had any contact with the other Shitennou since being revived."

"How come you're working for her?" Minako asked him.

"Because I don't have a choice." Keisuke held up his hand to display the bracelet Minako had noticed earlier. "This bracelet binds me to Hilda's command. As she explained to me, this bracelet will reduce me back to a star seed should I fail in my mission. It will not be removed until that mission is completed."

"Until then, his ass is mine," Hilda interjected. "The other three Shitennou are bound by the same rules. This is the penance they must pay for what they did as generals of the Dark Kingdom. If you like, you can think of me as his parole officer."

Arms crossed, Minako walked up to look Keisuke in the eye. "So if Kunzite's mission fails, he goes back to being a harmless rock? Then maybe I should do my best to screw it up."

"That'd be a very bad idea, blondie," Hilda told her. "If our mission fails, Earth and your entire solar system is toast. If our mission here is foiled, I don't think even your brave princess can stop the unspeakable horror we're up against from plunging the whole galaxy into a sea of madness."

"Says you," Minako responded, not once taking her eyes of Keisuke. "Neither of you has given me and Artemis any proof that what're you're saying is true. I have no reason to true any of you, especially not this man who years ago did everything in his power to kill me and my friends."

"As I told you, I am no longer that man!" Keisuke insisted. "Furthermore, I don't trust Hilda anymore than you do, Venus. However I have no choice but to help her. Besides, if what she's saying is the truth, then I'm going to do all I can to protect Earth and my Prince. You do remember that my original duty was to protect Prince Endymion with my life."

Minako did remember that Kunzite and the other three Shitennou were originally the protectors of Endymion; or rather Mamoru, just as she and her fellow Inners had the duty of protecting Usagi. She even had memories of working with Kunzite in that capacity in their past lives, though those memories were quite faint. Minako had never been able to totally recall everything from her previous life.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Minako finally backed down. "Okay, okay! Well then Ms. Hilda, or whatever you name is, answer me this. Why does this mission you're supposedly on involve reviving the Shitennou, or is that classified too?"

"It kind of is," Hilda answered. "And if I could tell you at this time, neither of you would like the answered. I can tell you that part of the reason is because they were also originally protectors of the Earth before they screwed up royal and let themselves become pawns of a redheaded demon bitch. This planet needs their protection especially now."

Minako threw her head back and let out an irritated groan. "Then at least tell me why you have Kunzite starring in this damn movie!"

"This movie role my mission," Kunzite revealed.

"The movie is part of our mutual enemy's plot," Hilda revealed.

"I knew it. I knew it!" Artemis grumbled through gritted teeth.

"Quiet you," Minako told the feline.

"Believe me, I'm not enjoying this any more than you are," Keisuke declared as he looked down to the left and put his hands in his pockets. "I'm… hardly an actor. In fact I find this aspect of this undercover mission of Hilda's… unnerving."

"You should've seen this guy as he was making his way towards the trailer," Hilda spoke with a huge grin as he came over and patted Keisuke hard on the back. "He's got a good poker face, but I could tell he was super nervous."

Minako couldn't help but notice the slight blush that had formed on Keisuke's face. Not only did she find the sight amusing, but also… cute. She never imagined that the calm and stoic Kunzite could be nervous about anything.

"Anyway, our goal is to infiltrate this film project in order to unmask the enemy and foil its plan," Hilda continued. "Sailor Venus, it's in the best interest of everyone for you to cooperate with us."

"It doesn't feel like I have much of a choice," Minako realized.

"Super. Well, I better get this guy back to our hotel so I can help him learn his lines and get over his stage fright," Hilda spoke as she began to push Keisuke towards the studio gates. "By Odin's beard, I'm going to turn him into an actor even if it kills him… again… which it probably will."

Minako and Artemis watched closely as Keisuke and Hilda left. As soon as they were out of sight, Minako fell to her knees and let out a heavy sigh.

"Mina…" Artemis began.

Minako clutched the top of the feline's head with a vice-like grip. "Artemis, if you even think of saying 'I told you so,' I am going to crush you into a little furry ball and hurl you towards the sun."

* * *

The sun was just starting to set as Mason and Lyle drove out of town towards Blight Forest. Lyle had been working with Mason's production company for only four months, and he had always felt that something was off about the eccentric director, something that bordered on that thin line between harmless eccentricity and sheer insanity. Now that they were going into Blight Forest, Lyle was now definitely sure that Mason was off his rocker. He had heard many of the stories concerning the forest and its haunted nature, and being a superstitious man he had made it a point to avoid traveling to such places.

"Hey Hughes, you sure we gotta go all the way into this creepy forest just to meet with this hotshot writer of yours?" Lyle asked, as the forest loomed ever closer. "I mean can't we just meet with him for lunch somewhere in town?"

"Mr. Worthy… the man we are to meet with does not go into public unless absolutely necessary," Mason told him, his eyes not once looking away from the old dirt road they were traveling on. "That is his right as the brilliant artistic genius that he is. Besides, you should be honored. The Maestro does not often invite people to visit his home at Hellmouth Castle."

At last the old black car that Mason drove entered the vast forest of dead trees. Lyle found that he was overwhelmed by just how desolate the place truly was. From his open window he could see that even the grass on the forest floor was as grey and brittle as the trees. The whole place had a sort of acrid smell to it, the kind of smell one might get from an open grave. What unsettled Lyle most about the forest was the lack of any sound beyond the car's engine. He did not hear the chirping of birds or the sounds of insects; not even the noise of a gently flowing stream.

The utter silence of the whole forest made it seem even more like a giant tomb. Lyle tried to turn on the car's radio to banish that silence, only to find it didn't work. All he could do was sit and endure the silence. As the car continued down that winding dirt road, Lyle couldn't help but continue to look out the window and scan for signs of any life at all. Not surprisingly he found nothing, but Lyle was actually glad about that because it seemed that anything that could live in such a forest would be an abomination that he would not wish to lay eyes upon.

After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity to Lyle, the car finally pulled up in front of a giant castle made of grey brick that had been eroded by mold, rain and wind. Thin brittle black vines clung to the castle's walls, making it look as though it had diseased veins. Just beyond the castle Lyle could see a massive gorge in the hill that seemed to go down into endless darkness. Lyle had heard a few times that such a landmark existed deep at the forest's edge, but that was just one of many rumors that he had hoped were not true.

"So… this is Hellmouth Castle, huh?" Lyle remarked as he and Mason exited the car. "It's, uh… pretty quaint."

"The place was originally called Cliffside Castle according to legend, but the Maestro decided to rename it Hellmouth Castle when he took possession of the property. A much more appropriate name, don't you think?"

"Yeah. It sure fits alright." Lyle nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt and looked back down the dirt road they had traveled down, wondering how long it would take him to get back to town on foot. As much as he didn't want to be in the forest, he wanted to be in the castle even less.

"Come!" Mason spoke as he headed for the door. "It would be rude to keep the Maestro waiting."

After a moment's more of hesitation, Lyle followed after Mason through the open gate of the castle. The large entry chamber beyond the gate was incredibly dark and must. In what little light that filtered through the windows, Lyle could see that the walls and little furniture in the room were covered in cobwebs. He was about to make some smart remark about how Mason's genius writer needed to higher a new maid when a loud noise caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. The sound was that of a pipe organ playing.

Mason walked further into the castle, forcing Lyle to tag along behind him. As they traveled down the halls towards the sound of the organ, Lyle realized that the only person living in the castle was probably their organ player. If that was the case, than Mason's genius writer was even crazier than he was. Eventually the two came to a large chamber dimly lit by torches lining the walls. At the far side of the room on a platform was a gigantic organ that seemed in much better shape than the castle that housed it.

In the dim light, Mason could just barely make out the man sitting at the organ. He tried to go up to him, but Mason held up his arm to block his path. "It would be very rude to disturb the Maestro during his performance."

Thus Lyle was forced to wait and listen as the musician's performance played out. As he finally took the time to listen, the talent scout finally realized just how strange this musical composition was. The piece was a cacophony of chaos, yet when listened to closely a sort of order and beauty could be detected in that chaos, the kind of beauty that could shake a person's soul. Lyle somehow became so wrapped up in listening to the piece that he barely noticed when it finally ended. The only thing that let him know it was over when Mason started clapping.

At this, the organist got up and bowed to Mason and Lyle before descending the steps leading off the platform. "I thank you for your high praise of my newest work, Mr. Mason. I'm calling it, 'Ecstasy in Purgatory'. It's still a bit rough, but it's coming along."

It was when the organist reached the bottom of the steps that Lyle finally got a good look at him. The man stood at about five feet tall, though he would've been taller if he weren't hunched forward. His arms were incredibly slender and long for his body, ending in unusually big hands that looked more like they belonged on some sort of ape. The man was dressed in some sort of tattered brown and black Victorian costume, complete with a ruffled shirt that had once been white but had yellowed with age. The thought occurred to Lyle that perhaps the man had stolen the outfit off of a dead body.

The most disturbing feature of this man though was his face, and Lyle no longer questions why he didn't like to go out in public unless absolutely necessary. His head was topped by somewhat long and incredibly wild black hair. His nose was quite small, while his mouth was unusually big and wide, showing off a set of crooked yellow teeth as he grinned at his two guests. A black eye patch covered his right eye, while his left eye was strangely large and seemed to almost bulge from its socket. More disturbing than all of that though was the man's skin, which seemed to be as grey as the skin of a corpse, yet also had a sort of greenish tint to it.

Lyle wondered if perhaps the one-eyed organist's complexion was merely a trick of the castle's poor lighting. Then again, maybe what he was seeing was nothing more than a Halloween costume. It was clear that Mason's Maestro was merely trying to project some sort of macabre image; just another eccentric artist. Lyle had been dealing with such people in his line of work for years. Even the organ was just a part of his act, something he probably picked up from watching too many B-movies.

"Mr. Worthy, I'd to introduce you to our film's writer, Peter Cromwell," Mason introduced.

"Delighted to finally meet you, Mr. Worthy," the one-eyed man spoke as he offered his hand to Lyle. "But please, call me One-Eyed Pete."

Lyle hesitated for a moment before shaking the man's unusually large hand. "Nice to meet ya, Pete. Say, that was quite the performance you gave us with that organ. So you're a screenwriter and a musician, huh?"

"Musician, playwright, painter… I am what you might call in modern parlance, a triple threat."

"So you paint too, huh?" A nervous laugh slipped from his mouth. "Guess Hughes wasn't kidding when he called out a genius."

Pete ignored Lyle's comment and turned his attention to Mason. "So, I trust you've arrived to deliver good news? Do we have our Cassilda?"

Mason bowed and nodded. "Ms. Aino arrived this morning. She is perfect a perfect fit for the role."

"But of course. We were guided to her by a higher power."

"I guess so. You know, I was skeptical when Hughes handed me the picture of some nobody in Japan and told me to pick her up," Lyle interjected. "But she does seem like the perfect fit for the role. I just wish I could say the same about the guy who's been cast as her boyfriend."

"What is this uncultured fool talking about?" Pete asked Mason.

"The role of Cassila's lover is being played by a young man brought to us by an unknown and rather unusual talent agency," Mason explained. "While this actor seems like he might be a good fit for the role, his arrival may be part of this disturbance you sensed by be coming."

Pete waved his hand dismissively to the two before turning to head over to a bookcase against the chamber's right-side wall. "It matters not. If this young man is indeed part of the disturbance, he is as powerless to stop what is to come as his character. Still, caution is likely advised. What matters now though is that we better prepare Ms. Aino for her role. Later I shall enlist an agent to deliver unto her the Yellow Sign."

"Um… when the heck are you guys talking about?" Lyle asked.

"Mr. Worthy, it occurs to me that you are woefully unenlightened about what this project of ours is truly about," Pete spoke as he took a particular book off the shelf. "That is why it seems necessary to educate you."

With that, Pete walked back over to Lyle and handed him the book. The book in question was bound in green snakeskin, and Lyle couldn't help but let out a gasp when he saw the book's title on the front cover etched in gold, _The King in Yellow_.

"Hey! Wait just a minute here," Lyle told them. "I know that this is the play that our movie is based on, but why do I have to read it? Especially when… you know, everyone who reads it goes… a bit nuts?"

Pete shook his head. "Mr. Worthy, you may not be aware of this, but I am the true owner of Eclipse View Studios. And if you wish to continue your relationship with us, you will go into the study across the hall and read that book from beginning to end. Afterwards, you will fully understand my creative vision."

After a moment, Lyle finally did as he was told and went across the hall to the room that Pete had indicated. As much as he didn't want to read the supposedly cursed play or even be in that castle, he also didn't want to lose his job. A large fireplace provided the only source of light study that had been set up in the small chamber, yet oddly the fire seemed like it gave off no heat. Lyle sat down in a large leather armchair by the fireplace with split seams and looked at the book on his lap. He debated with himself about whether or not to actually start reading, and in the end decided that the story about the play driving people insane was just that, a story; in reality an old play written hundred of years ago couldn't possible harm anyone.

Lyle took a deep breath, and after another moment of hesitation opened the book and began reading the first page.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well, I hope this first chapter has at least gotten everyone's attention. Credit for Kunzite's human name, Keisuke goes to Bethany89, though I had to come up with the surname myself. Before anyone asks: yes, there will be other stories focusing on the other the missions that the other three Shitennou are on during the events of this story. And yes, the other three Inners will be involved in each one. For now though, I'm going to focus on getting this story finished.

Obviously I'm borrowing certain elements from original short story collection by Chambers, but One-Eyed Pete, Blight Forest, Hellmouth Castle and the gorge it sits before are from that dream I mentioned in the introduction. One-Eyed Pete I guess is one of my very first OCs, but I've never tried using him in a story until now. Well, it'll probably be two or three weeks before I can put up the next chapter, what with Thanksgiving just around the corner. I'll try and get it up as soon as I can though.

Until next time, please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Brand of the Yellow Sign

**Author's Note:** I'm glad that at least a few people are interested in this story, and I hope that I didn't keep those of you I speak of waiting too long for this update. I managed to get a lot of this chapter done last week, but of course the Thanksgiving weekend kind of slowed me down.

Anyway, there are a couple of things I forgot to mention during my little introduction before the start of the first chapter. The first is that this story follows the continuity from the original Sailor Moon manga and Sailor Moon Crystal (mainly the manga more than Crystal). Second, this story has no connection to that crossover series between Sailor Moon and Tokyo Mew Mew that I tried to start years ago. I kind of dropped that series because hardly anyone read the first story, and because I'm pretty sure that whole project is _cursed_! Long story.

Well, now that I've gotten that out of the way, on with the show!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 2: Brand of the Yellow Sign

It was close to 1:00 AM as Minako read through the lines from her film script for perhaps the twentieth time that night. Artemis had been helping her rehearse her lines for the scene she was to perform with Keisuke the next morning, with the white cat reading the lines of Keisuke's character. The scene depicted Minako's character, Cassilda telling her lover how they must end their relationship so that she may fulfill her duty to kingdom and family. Minako felt that she not only had a good grasp on her lines, but that she had the emotions of her character down. During the whole rehearsal process though, Minako felt that there was something about the whole scene that was… off.

Artemis sighed as he closed his copy of the script. "I think that's enough rehearsal for tonight. You have to start filming pretty early tomorrow, and I think you have your lines down."

"Yeah. I think you're right," Minako agreed with a heavy sigh as she tossed her copy of the script on the wooden coffee table. She plopped back into the ugly orange-red armchair behind her and took a sip from the glass of iced tea she had nearby. "Of course no matter how much I rehearse though, this scene is going to be a real challenge considering I'll be playing it with Kunzite."

"I still think you should back out of doing this movie. I don't know what's really going on here, but if Kunzite and his new friend Hilda are behind it, we could be playing right into their hands."

"True, we can't exactly trust Kunzite or Hilda, especially since Hilda insists on being so vague on what exactly this mission of theirs is. Then again, if they're trying to stop some sort of new threat rather than cause it themselves, we can't afford to turn a blind eye to whatever's going on. For now, it's probably best if we just play along with this whole game."

"Mina! How can you even consider working with someone like Kunzite? He tried to kill you and the others, and very nearly succeeded!"

Minako looked out the window to her left up at the brilliant crescent moon in the sky, thinking back to her earlier encounter with the former dark general, recalling his attitude, the look in his eyes, and the way he seemed to blush a bit about his nervousness of being in the film. "He's not the same Kunzite we've dealt with before."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Honestly, I can't," Minako admitted as she turned her head back to him. "But the way he acted when we met him again at the studio… don't ask me how I know, but I could tell that he had changed. He was no longer the ruthless general who served Queen Beryl. In fact… he's probably turned back to the man he was before Beryl tainted him. Remember Art, he and the other Shitennou were once good men."

Artemis let out a heavy sigh. "I know. The Shitennou were originally Mamoru's protectors in the same way that you, Rei, Ami and Makoto serve as Usagi's guardians."

"Right. And Kunzite was my counterpart. In fact I recall that he was a pretty descent guy."

"But you don't remember him that well, do you?" Artemis asked, looking her straight in the eye.

This time Minako let out a heavy sigh. "No… I don't. For some reason, my past life memories of Kunzite have never fully returned, and honestly I never tried to get them back after everything that happened with the Dark Kingdom. Still, I'm going to trust my instincts on this. They never usually let me down."

"We should at least contact the others and bring them in on this. They should at least know that one of the Shitennou is suddenly back among the living."

"I already tried that before the rehearsal. Couldn't get through to any of them." The blond took of her wrist communicator and tossed it onto the coffee table. "Even that thing seems to be on the blink."

"Are you kidding me?" Artemis jumped from the couch onto the coffee table to take a closer look. He opened up Minako's communicator and began to fiddle with some of the buttons, but no matter what the feline did, all he got was static. "This situation just keeps getting worse and worse! Of course… even if we could get through to the others, they'd be too far away to help."

Minako nodded in agreement. At that moment, she and the others were pretty spread out. Usagi and Mamoru were away enjoying a romantic trip in Hawaii, while the Outers were all in Europe on one of Michiru's concert tours. Rei meanwhile was in Kyoto dealing with some issues with her father, and likely also trying to get out of dating some new suitor her father wanted her to marry. Ami was in Massachusetts checking out a potential medical school, while Makoto was in America's Midwest visiting her new boyfriend; a young man that Minako couldn't help but think was all wrong for her for reasons even she couldn't quite identify.

"Still, we should at least let the others know that Kunzite's returned," Artemis continued. "Especially since Hilda mentioned that the other three Shitennou were revived too and on missions with some comrades of hers. They should be on alert in case each of the other Shitennou happens to be where they are."

Minako got up and stretched. "You work on that. In the meantime, I should turn in. After all, I've got a big morning tomorrow. And it's like they say, 'the early stone-thrower kills the bird'."

Artemis shook his head. "I think you mean, 'the early bird gets the worm'. But yes, you really should get some rest. Hopefully by morning I'll have the communicator working again."

Minako began to head for the bedroom, but then paused when she got to the doorway. "Hey Artemis, was anything about the scene I just spent the night rehearsing strange to you?"

"I'll admit it was kind of depressing, but nothing out of the ordinary. Why?"

"I don't know. It's just that while rehearsing it a few times earlier I had this sense of… don't know, some kind of déjà vu." Minako sighed and shook her head. "I'm probably just imagining things. Well, goodnight Art."

* * *

Keisuke was gazing at the moon out the window of his own hotel room. He had been going through rehearsals of his own with Hilda for the last few hours, and it had not been an easy process. The whole time Keisuke had been distracted by what happened during his earlier encounter with Minako. While her attitude towards him had been totally understandable given their past, Keisuke found that he was greatly discomforted by the fact that Minako clearly still saw him as an enemy. Of course there was no way that such an attitude could change overnight.

In the other corner of the room, Hilda let out a heavy sigh as she held the bridge of her nose. "Okay. I guess we may as well just call it a night. You at least know your lines, but there's still no emotion behind them. But since we only had so much time to work, all we can do is hope that you'll do a better job once the camera starts rolling."

"Sorry if I'm not cut out for this mission," Keisuke responded, not taking his eye away from the window. "Perhaps you should've chosen one of my fellow Shitennou for this mission instead of me."

"Nah. My boss said it was either you or nobody. Of course I can't tell you why that is, but know that she has some good reasons for picking you. It's not an ideal situation, but we both have to work with what we've got."

Keisuke didn't react to this, at least not outwardly. Inside he was once again annoyed that his new superior had yet another secret from him. The reality of it was that Keisuke was very grateful for this second chance at life; that he had the opportunity to redeem himself and go back to serving his prince like he was supposed to before Beryl found and tainted him yet again. The one thing that the silver-haired general couldn't tolerate though was that he was being constantly kept in the dark about his mission. As Hilda had just said though, he had no choice but to work with what he had.

"She got to you, didn't he?" Hilda continued. "Meeting Sailor Venus again is the reason why your head hasn't been in this. So what's the deal? Did you two date in your past lives before everything went to hell?"

Keisuke finally turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm merely discomforted by the fact that she simply doesn't trust me. And your assumption is absurd. The people of Earth were forbidden to fraternize with the people of the Moon Kingdom."

"That didn't stop your prince and the Moon Kingdom's princess from shacking up. Being their chaperones, you and Venus probably saw each other on a pretty regular basis. Are you honestly going to tell me that there were never sparks between the two of you?"

"I find it doubtful that there were." Keisuke turned back to look at the moon. "And even if there were sparks between us as you suggested, it doesn't matter now."

"Wait, back up. What do you mean you find it doubtful that there were sparks? Don't you remember any of your times with her during that life?"

"There are certain… gaps in my past life memories where Sailor Venus is concerned. When you told me that she and I would more or less be working together on this mission, I tried recalling those times we might've worked together during the Silver Millennium and found I could recall nothing."

"Well that's a tad… inconvenient." Hilda tossed her copy of the unfinished movie script onto the couch and leaned against the wall. "You don't remember anything concerning her from that time?"

"Nothing beyond a few brief encounters, particularly our very first meeting." Keisuke turned back again to look at her. "But if we did have romantic feelings for one another as you seem to assume, we wouldn't have acted on them. Such a thing would've been taboo, and our duties to our respective kingdoms came first above anything. And before you make another argument about how such things did not stop my prince, it had not been my place to tell Prince Endymion who he could not love, even though I did object."

"If you say so, big guy." Hilda stretched and began to head for the door. "Well, you had better turn in for the night. You have to get up bright and early tomorrow for your first big scene."

"Hilda," Keisuke spoke. Hilda stopped at the door. "I apologize again if I'm not living up to your expectations. Another reason why I may have seemed distracted during our rehearsal is because something about that scene seemed… familiar to me. I can't explain why."

Hilda's lips curved into a small smirk. "The scene we've been going over is of Princess Cassilda telling her lover that they can't see each other anymore because of duty to her kingdom. Maybe it's familiar to you because you and a certain someone had a very similar conversation once long ago. Worth thinking about, isn't it? Well, goodnight big guy."

With that, Hilda finally departed, leaving Keisuke to stare back up at the moon again. He had to admit that theory about why the scene he'd been rehearsing was so familiar made sense, at least logically. Once again Keisuke tried to recall what had happened between him and Minako back during the time of the Silver Millennium and kept drawing a blank. After a few more minutes, Keisuke finally gave up on his efforts at recollection and went to get ready for bed. He had a mission to complete, and as uncomfortable as it was, he needed to give it his best.

* * *

It was fairly early in the morning as Minako sat in her trailer at the location for the first scene. She was already dressed in her costume: an elegant green and white gown from the Middle Ages with long sleeves and a long flowing skirt. The only thing that she didn't like at all about the outfit was the corset that had been wrapped tightly around her midsection. While Minako appreciated that her costume needed to look authentic, she felt that there was a limit to that authenticity. Hanging around Minako's neck was a gold-colored necklace with a large and obviously fake emerald, and her normal red bow had been replaced with a gold tiara and diadem.

The makeup artist had just finished up with Minako when a knock came at the trailer door. Minako gave permission for whomever it was to come in. As the makeup artist finished putting her tools away, Minako watched the door open on the mirror and saw Keisuke come in. The silver-haired general was clad in a long-sleeved blue shit with a piece of bronze-colored armor covering his chest, along with a flowing red cape and long black pants. Minako noted how dashing Keisuke looked in that outfit, though it seemed to her that he always looked dashing no matter what he had on.

"Minako, may I speak with you for a moment?" Keisuke asked.

Minako rose from her chair and turned to face him. "I don't see why not."

The makeup artist nodded to them both as she finished putting away her gear and headed for the door. They waited until she was gone before either of them started talking.

"Okay. So what's this about?" Minako asked, crossing her arms.

"I just wanted to be clear about where we both stand," Keisuke explained. "What we're about to do is challenging, or at least it is for me. I don't want whatever bad blood we have between us to interfere with our task."

"Don't worry. I can be very professional when it comes to this sort of thing. But don't think for a moment that I trust you."

"I'm not expecting you to, not after everything I did. I guess what I'm really trying to find out is, do you still consider me to be an enemy?"

Minako looked Keisuke right in the eye. "Honestly… I don't really know. I can tell that you're not the same man you were when you worked for Beryl. But like you said, I can't exactly trust you after everything we've been through. Tell me something though, what do you intend to do once this mission you're on with Hilda is finished?"

"I intend to try and go back to the life I had before Beryl found me for the second time, and to continue the protection of Prince Endymion. That was my original destiny."

"Well… if that's true, then I guess that means we'd be working together."

"We did once before during the Silver Millennium… or at least we seemed to. Minako, how much do you remember of me from our past lives?"

"Not much really. But then maybe that means we didn't work together as often as you think we did."

A dark chuckle escaped Keisuke's throat. "Perhaps not. Though… it might've been nice if we did." He glanced around the room and noticed that it seemed like something was missing. "Say, where is your little furry companion?"

"You mean Artemis? He's back at my hotel working on my communicator. I haven't been able to get through to Usagi or any of my friends since I got here, not even by cell phone." Her eyes narrowed at Keisuke just a bit. "You and that new girlfriend of yours wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Startled by Minako's remark, Keisuke quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. "First of all, Hilda is not my girlfriend. That commanding shrew is the last woman I'd want as a potential wife. I'm only working with her because I have no choice. Second, even if Hilda were blocking communication with the princess and the rest of your team, she probably wouldn't have told me. She seems to keep me in the dark about everything, not that you'd likely believe me."

After a moment, Minako's expression softened. "I believe you… for now anyway."

Keisuke sighed. "I guess that's the best I can hope for at the moment."

Minako nodded. "We better get to the set. I'm sure they're expecting us already."

* * *

From their trailers, Minako and Keisuke arrived on the set of the first scene, the bedroom of Princess Cassilda. Minako had already taken her first position sitting on the end of the bed. Keisuke meanwhile was waiting behind the door for his cue. As the stagehands finished their final preparations, Mason sat patiently in his director's chair.

"Alright Ms. Aino. As you know, this is one of the most important early scenes of the film," Mason began. "This is the moment where Princess Cassilda tells her lover, Altair that relationship must end. I remind you of these facts because I want you to remember the level of emotion being relayed here. Think of the way you'd act if you had to give your own lover this news."

Minako nodded. "Got it."

Mason made a gesture with his hand to the crew. "Action!"

In another moment, the cameras started rolling. As the scene began, Minako sat where she was, facing away from the door and looking as serious as possible.

There was a knock at the door, and Minako took a short breath. "Come in, Altair. I've been expecting you."

The door opened and Keisuke entered the room. "Cassilda. I must speak with you."

"I know why. By now I'm sure the news has spread all over the kingdom. A date has been set for my marriage to the King in Yellow."

"And… have you done nothing to stop it?" Keisuke asked, taking another two steps into the room.

"No… and I shall not. We've known this was coming for years, my love. This contract was made when I was a girl no older than eight. Now that I am of proper age and the King is ready to wed, I am obligated to go to him."

"You have no obligations to that… that creature. Especially when such a contract was made when you were an innocent young girl!"

"I have an obligation to my kingdom!" Minako argued as she stood from the bed and faced him. "If I do not wed the King as arranged, it would mean war with Carcosa! You're a soldier. You better than anyone that are army doesn't even come close to matching the power of that kingdom, nor the power of their King himself."

"I would fight the armies of the underworld itself to protect and keep you," Keisuke declared as he came closer to her. "That is how deep my love for you is."

"And my love for you is so deep that I cannot stand by and let you throw your life away." Minako turned away from him. "And that is why… that is why you and I must part way. You and I can no longer continue to be lovers."

A look of shock appeared on Keisuke's face. "How can you even think such a thing? How can you throw away what we had so casually?"

"There is nothing casual about this at all." Minako turned back to face him. "Altair, please believe that I could love no other man the way that I love you. But our kingdom must come first. Could you imagine the disaster that would be brought down upon our heads if we were to continue as we are? Carcosa would bring doom upon us all. That is why are time together must end."

Suddenly Keisuke grabbed Minako by the arms and pulled her close, causing a startled cry to escape her throat. A look of rage was on his face. "Dammit! I cannot let this end, you hear me? In all the time we've been together my feelings for you have grown into a burning flame! I can't just extinguish it as callously as you can! The kingdom can be damned for all I care! I will not let you go!"

Minako broke free of Keisuke's grasp and slapped him hard in the face. Keisuke stumbled back a bit, and they both looked at one another in shock for a few moments. That slap had not been in the script, nor had the part where Keisuke had grabbed Minako. Despite this deviation from the script though, the cameras kept on rolling.

In another moment, Minako finally composed herself and continued. "My darling. I know that this is painful for both of us, but this is our fate. Our time together has ended, but know that I will always love you. Now go… it is painful for me to be in your presence right now."

Minako turned away from Keisuke. After a moment, Keisuke turned on his heel and marched out of the room.

"Cut! Print!" Mason ordered. "That was magnificent! A perfect performance."

"Sir, don't you think we should do another take?" the assistant director asked. "They did go a little bit off script there."

"Nonsense! If there's one thing I've learned in all the years I've been doing this, art is a living thing. At times in the heat of the moment, the actors will alter a scene in a better way than it was originally written. Besides, I doubt we could replicate that level of passion a second time. Now then, we shall take a break for twenty minutes! Afterwards we shall begin filming the opening scene where Altair learns of the marriage date. Mr. Tenju, I trust you have prepared for that scene?"

"Um, of course," Keisuke answered as he came back through the door.

"Splendid. Well then, let's get to it, everyone!"

With that, the crew began to scatter in preparations for the next scene. Meanwhile Minako began to head back for her trailer.

"Minako, wait!" Keisuke called, causing her to stop and turn back. "I'm sorry for grabbing you like that before. I don't know what came over me."

"I should probably be the one to apologize for slapping you like that," Minako responded. "That was too far. You really got into that scene, didn't you?"

"Yes, well… that exchange between our two characters seemed to remind me of something. I'm not exactly sure what it is I'm recalling, but whatever it was seemed to stir up sort of old anger that seemed to get the better of me. Again, I apologize."

"So, that scene felt familiar to you too, huh?" Minako's response caused a surprised look to form on Keisuke's face. "Odd that'd we'd both be getting some kind of weird déjà vu from it. Well, I'm not needed for the next scene, so I think I'll go back to my trailer and take a short nap. That whole thing really wore me out."

Keisuke remained rooted where he'd been standing as he watched Minako walk off. He hadn't expected that Minako had also been having familiar feelings about the scene they had just performed. Keisuke wondered if they were recalling something from their past lives, or if they had inadvertently fallen under the spell of the movie that was likely the enemy's trap.

* * *

After ten minutes, Keisuke had finally wandered back to his trailer. Fortunately a sudden rainstorm had delayed the filming of his next scene for a bit, so he more time to think. Keisuke wanted desperately to figure out why both he and Minako had found that scene they had just done so familiar. He wracked his brain trying to come up with an answer and kept drawing a blank. It seemed that the harder he tried, the further away the answer became.

Keisuke sighed heavily as he sat back in his chair before the mirror in full costume. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of all thought, especially the question that now plagued him. In the process of doing so, the silver-haired general had fallen asleep.

* * *

 _In his dreams, Keisuke had gone back to the time of the Silver Millennium, to the time when he was Kunzite of the Shitennou and chief protector of Prince Endymion. It was night as he stood on one of the balconies of his family's castle in the center of his homeland. Sailor Venus was with him. The two of them had finished a patrol together earlier in the day, and since they were in the area, Kunzite had decided to give the captain of Princess Serenity's guards a whirlwind tour of his home city. Much to Kunzite's delight, the blond Venusian had been very impressed by what she had seen of the city._

 _At that moment, Venus was looking out over the city in the middle of that vast desert oasis. Kunzite couldn't help but notice how the light of the moon above magnified Venus's beauty, making her appear more like a goddess than ever. Seeing her like that, Kunzite could no longer deny his attraction towards her, or the feelings he had developed for his Moon Kingdom counterpart during their recent missions together. He knew that pursuing a relationship with Venus was one of the ultimate taboos, but he didn't care. Kunzite felt that they were meant for each other._

 _"Your land really is beautiful," Venus commented, still looking out over the obsidian roofs of the city's buildings. "But then I guess there's a lot about the Earth that's beautiful. I can see why the princess is so drawn to this world."_

 _"I'm glad you approve," Kunzite responded. Nervousness had overcome him, but he was doing a good job of hiding his feelings. "Of course… I doubt that my homeland hardly compares to the beauty of the Moon Kingdom, or to the kingdom of your home world."_

 _"No. Your kingdom as just as beautiful as anything I've seen on Venus or the Moon. There's no need to place its grandeur beneath them."_

 _With those last words Venus turned and smiled at him, and it was in that moment Kunzite realized he could no longer keep his feelings hidden. Now was the time to tell her how he felt._

 _Kunzite placed a hand on her shoulder. "Venus… during this time we've worked together, you and I have become quite close. You're one of the strongest warriors to fight at my side."_

 _"I feel the same way about you. The two of us make an excellent team, and I can tell this world is in good hands with a warrior as strong as you protecting it."_

 _"What I'm trying to say Venus is that… I've fallen in love with you. In the time we've spent together, you've managed to capture my heart. I can no longer picture my life without you at my side. Surely you must feel the same way."_

 _Venus turned her gaze slightly away from Kunzite as her face turned a deep shade of red. "I… I confess that I too… have developed deep feelings for you." She then looked the silver-haired general in the eye. "Despite my efforts I can't deny how strong this connection between us is. You and I seem to be two of a kind, perhaps part of a set."_

 _Kunzite gently took hold of Venus's chin. "If what you say is true, then perhaps you and I were meant to be together."_

 _With that, Kunzite leaned in to give the blond a kiss, but just before their lips were about to meet, Venus pulled away. She then turned around and took two steps away from him._

 _"We can't," Venus spoke. "Kunzite, as strongly as we feel for each other, it just wouldn't be right. Romance between the people of Earth and the people of the Moon Kingdom is forbidden."_

 _"But… that taboo isn't stopping my prince and your princess."_

 _"Their relationship is all the more reason why we can't be together!" Venus declared as she turned back around to face him. Tears had formed in the corners of her eyes. "A romance between us would only call attention to their relationship. If people learned that the guards of the prince and princess were carrying on a relationship as well, our kingdoms might sever off relationships entirely. The princess and prince would be forbidden from seeing each other ever again. I can't take the risk putting Serenity through that kind of pain!"_

 _"Nor can I risk Endymion suffering the same agony. But… surely if we were careful…"_

 _Venus turned away from him again. "Kunzite… the two of us have to try and forget that what we said this night. For the sake of our two kingdoms, we can be no more to each other than what we are now. I'm sorry."_

 _With that, Venus leapt towards the sky and teleported away with a flash of golden light. Kunzite had raised his hand for her as she left, only to slam it down on the railing of the balcony after she had left. He turned to look out at the city, tears clouding his green eyes. In that moment is mind was caught in a twister of sorrow and anger over being rejected by the only woman he ever felt he truly loved._

* * *

Keisuke's eyes snapped open as his dream suddenly came to an end. He shot up in his chair and looked at himself in the mirror, processing everything his subconscious had just shown him. Keisuke was certain that what he had just experienced was no mere dream, but a memory of his past life. Somehow the scene that he and Minako had just performed together had caused it to surface, and that memory was the source of the burst of anger he had felt during the performance. The similar conversation between their characters had caused Keisuke to feel that anger from that memory a second time.

Leaning forward, Keisuke rested his elbows on the counter before him and rubbed his temples. He found himself recalling the theory Hilda had about his relationship with Minako in their past lives and couldn't believe that she had been right. Of course the recollection of this memory had only raised more questions for Keisuke. Just what had been the relationship between him and Minako been in their past lives, and what were his feelings for Minako now? More importantly, Keisuke wondered if the performance of that scene had caused the same memory to awaken in Minako.

* * *

Minako at that moment was leaning back in the chair in her dressing room, staring blankly up at the ceiling. During her nap she had indeed recalled the very same past life memory that Keisuke had just regained, and the experience had left her totally stunned and confused. Minako kept wondering why she was only just recalling this memory now.

"Crap…" Minako whispered for the fourth or fifth time in a row as she finally sat back up.

What bugged Minako the most about this whole thing was that she had a very incomplete picture of her former relationship with the head of the Shitennou. She had seen the end of their doomed romance, but not the beginning or the middle. Plus the fact that they apparently had been in love with each other once before made Minako wonder how she felt about Keisuke in the present. Minako had to admit that Keisuke seemed like a good man now that he was no longer Beryl's puppet. She also noted that he was extremely handsome… and in very good shape.

Minako suddenly began picturing what Keisuke probably looked like with his shirt off and slapped herself lightly in the cheek. "Dammit girl. Get your mind out of the gutter. You need to focus on the big issue right now."

Suddenly Minako heard some sort of pawing at the corner of the door. Grateful for the distraction, Minako got up to answer the door and saw Artemis on the top step.

"Art! You came all the way out to the set?" she asked as she stepped aside to let the feline in.

"I've actually been here for the last hour or so," Artemis admitted as he came in. "I'm afraid I've had no luck fixing the communicator. I don't know what's causing this interference, but I just can't break through it."

"It's just as well. The others are two far away to back us up with whatever's going on here."

"I saw the filming of that scene they had you doing with Kunzite. Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well Kunzite ended up getting pretty aggressive with you during that performance. That man is dangerous Mina. You shouldn't drop your guard around him."

Minako went sit back down in her chair. "Keisuke's not a bad man. He just got a little too caught up in his performance. The director actually liked it, so it all worked out."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Why are you defending him? Mina, is there something I should know?"

"Well… earlier I got back one of the missing memories from my past life and it turns out Kunzite and I had fallen in love with each other." Minako turned to the mirror and began removing her makeup. "Say, do you want to get something to eat? I'm apparently done filming for today, and that scene really caused me to work up an appetite."

The white feline's jaw had dropped and his tail had gone as straight and rigid as a board. "WHAT? Mina! That couldn't have possibly been a real memory! It has to be some kind of enemy trick!"

Minako let out a heavy sigh. After what she had just gone though, she was in no mood for one of Artemis's lectures. "Trust me. This was a real memory."

"But… how the hell could you possibly have fallen in love with someone like Kunzite?"

"You're forgetting one thing, Art. Keisuke was originally one of Mamoru's bodyguards. He was a good man before the Dark Kingdom twisted his mind and turned him against us."

"Well surely you didn't pursue this romance, did you?"

"No. From what little I remembered I broke it off before it even really got started. Us going out would've caused Usagi too many problems." Minako then once again that last moment she looked back at Kunzite before teleporting away, and how in that brief moment she had seen the pain in his eyes from being rejected. Thinking of that moment caused Minako's chest to tighten a bit, and she found herself wondering how Keisuke was doing. "I think I should go see how Keisuke's doing. It'd be a good chance to ask him if he remembered the same thing I just did."

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

Minako rose from her chair and headed for the door. "Yeah, well… I don't really care what you think. I need to see if he's okay."

* * *

Lyle stood at the edge of a dirt field out behind the studio's lot. Clutched tightly in both his hands he held an urn made of a dark-grey metal covered in black dirt and oozing some sort of green slim from the brim around the lid. His tie was uncharacteristically crooked, and his skin was as white as a sheet; yet his mouth was curved into a blissful smile and his eyes were filled with a mixture of pure terror and sheer wonder. Reading the final acts of that play the previous night in One-Eyed Pete's castle had changed him. A veil had been lifted from his eyes and he now saw the true nature of the universe; a truth that he had heard from the mouth of the King himself.

He didn't know if it had been only a vision or if he had actually been transported there, but while reading the play Lyle had seen the kingdom of Carcosa with his own eyes and had met its ruler. The King had shared much with Lyle, including his plans for the Earth, and he had promised Lyle that he would give him a position of glory in the new world if he would act as his herald. Lyle had always gone with the deals where he would benefit the most, and this had been the deal of a lifetime. When Lyle had returned to the castle, Pete had given him the urn and instructed him on what to do with it. It was a simple enough job, and Lyle was pleased to do it.

Eventually saw Minako walking across the lot in her search for Keisuke, and it was then he knew that the time to carry out his task had come. He kneeled down and gently set the urn down on the ground.

Lifting the urn's lid, Lyle dropped in a strand of golden hair from his pocket that he had earlier learned had come from Minako into the vessel. He didn't bother to ask Pete or Mason how they had gotten the hair, for it didn't matter. "In the name of the King, I call upon thee. Deliver the Sign unto the chosen one."

A few second after the hair had fallen into the urn a flabby green shape shot out of it and burrowed into the ground with incredible speed. With his task complete, Lyle got back to his feet, turned around and walked away, whistling casually with his hands behind his back.

* * *

Keisuke was pacing around the lot, still in full costume. He had hoped that going for a walk would allow him to clear his head, but it wasn't working. Just as Keisuke turned around to go back to his trailer, he saw Minako standing before him. He found that he was glad to see the blond, yet at the same time she was the last person he wanted to be around because he had no idea how he should feel about her.

"Hi there!" Minako greeted with a big smile. Keisuke thought that she seemed a little nervous, but dismissed it thinking he was just imagining things.

Suddenly a nervousness of his own, Keisuke cleared his throat. "Uh… Minako. Is there something I can do for you?"

"No, no. I, um… I just wanted to see if you were okay. I mean with the way you freaked out during our first scene together, I thought something might be wrong."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. I just got a little carried away throwing myself into the role. Again, I apologize."

"That's it, huh?" Her smile faltered and Keisuke thought that this time her voice held a hint of disappointment in her voice. Minako shook her head and her smile fully returned. "Well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Keisuke smiled and nodded. "Well, if that's all, I should probably go. They'll probably want me back on the set very soon."

"…Wait," Minako spoke as Keisuke started to walk off. "Before I go, there's something I wanted to tell you about."

Keisuke turned back around to face her. "Go on."

Minako suddenly found that he couldn't look him in the eye. That calm expression of his made it impossible to guess what he was thinking, and she was suddenly afraid of how he would respond to what she was about to tell him.

Minako's face was bright red as she finally started to speak. "Well you see… I had this dream earlier while I was taking a nap in my trailer. Actually it wasn't a dream, but a memory. A memory… of us."

Keisuke became even more interested in what she had to say, but retained his cool expression. "A memory of us? You mean… from our past lives?"

"Yep. We were visiting your homeland. It was night and we were in your castle, and… well… some things were said."

It was suddenly hard for Keisuke to retain his mask of calm, for he had a pretty good idea about the memory the blond was talking about. "What exactly was said between us?"

Before Minako could answer, the ground beneath them suddenly began to rumble. A gigantic mass suddenly burst out a few feet from where they were standing, forcing them to jump back. It was then that they managed to get a good look at the creature. The thing was a gigantic worm at least twenty feet long and as wide as a minivan. Its flesh was sickly pale greenish-white, and its body was covered in hideous green eyes. The most horrible feature of the thing though was its face, which was that of a newborn human baby with pitch-black eyes and a grinning mouth filled with tiny sharp fangs.

A look of utter disgust formed on Keisuke's face. "What is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it's ugly and has the worst sense of timing!" Minako declared as she clutched her chest. "And it needs to die! Venus Crystal Power… MAKE-UP!"

With that, Minako became enveloped in a pillar of golden light that shot up into the sky, fading moments later to reveal her in her alternate form as Sailor Venus. After her transformation had finished, the worm giggled and focused its total attention on Venus.

Venus pointed her index finger at the monstrosity like a gun. "Crescent Beam!"

A powerful beam of gold light shot from the tip of Venus's finger and struck the worm front, but did no damage. The beast let out another childish giggle and spat a glob of yellow slime down at the blond. Venus jumped back at the last second and the projectile struck the spot where she had just been standing, melting a hole in the ground.

"Okay. Time to break out the big guns," Venus decided as she cricked her neck. She then blew a kiss into her hand, causing a heart made of golden energy to appear in her palm. "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"

Venus extended her palm, causing the heart to fly from her hand and circle around her multiplied to form multiple rings. When the hearts had gained enough speed, the finally came together and became a blast of gold electricity that shot across the battlefield and struck the worm. The creature cried out in pain as the energy shocked it. When the energy finally faded, the worm looked down at Venus with an expression of utter fury. It spit out another glob of yellow acid, and this time the projectile managed to hit Venus in her upper left arm.

Venus cried out in pain as she held her new wound. The worm meanwhile giggled with delight at the pain it had caused.

"Venus!" Keisuke called out before glaring up at the worm. "I've had enough of this!"

Suddenly Keisuke became enveloped in a pillar of black energy that shot into the sky, gaining the attention of both Venus and the worm. In the darkness of the energy, Venus saw what appeared to be stars. In seconds the energy subsided to reveal Kunzite in a new form. A white cape with a dark-blue underside hung from his back, and he had on a black uniform shirt underneath a piece of silvery-white armor that covered his chest. White gloves covered his hands, and he had on long black pants with knee-high armored boots made of the same metal as the armor covering his chest. Hanging from the wide golden belt around his waist was a large sword with an ornate silver handle and black sheath.

Despite Kunzite's transformation, the worm decided to ignore him and turned its attention back to Venus. Just as the beast spat out another glob of acid at her, Kunzite charged across the battlefield and made it to the Venusian's side. As another yellow blob flew down towards them, Kunzite raised his cape to shield them both. Suddenly a cylindrical pillar of darkness filled with tiny white stars surrounded the duo and blocked the attack, seeming to absorb the acid blob into nothingness. Meanwhile inside the pillar, Venus was pressed against the pillar's wall by Kunzite's body.

"Are you okay?" Kunzite asked with concern.

"I think so," Venus answered. "Looks like that thing's attack was only strong enough to leave a small burn."

"My instincts tell me it's only toying with us. If we don't finish it off soon, it'll start to cause even more damage. For now though, take a moment to rest. This barrier won't last for much longer, but it should provide you with enough time to recover."

Venus nodded and started looking around the enclosure. It was not pitch-black darkness that surrounded them but the darkness of the night sky. Venus felt as though she were standing in a sea of stars. It was then that Venus remembered that this was the true form of Kunzite's power: the power to call forth the darkness of the night. It was not a frightening darkness but a gentle one, the kind that one could be content to fall asleep in.

Though faint, Venus could recall being protected by this power before in the past, though she couldn't remember the exact instances when that happened. Even so, Venus found that she felt safe surrounded by this power, safer than she had felt in her life. That safety brought with it a sort of contentment, and before she realized what she was doing, Venus wrapped her arms around Kunzite and rested her head on his shoulder as her eyes closed.

The blond guardian's actions caused Kunzite to blush. "Uh, Venus? What're you doing?"

Venus's eyes snapped open and quickly pulled back as far as she could within the tiny enclosed space, her face an even deeper shade of red's than Kunzite's. "Sorry! Just felt a little dizzy there, I guess. Long day, you know?"

Suddenly the darkness around them began to thin. In a few moments the barrier was gone, and the worm was looking down at them with an expression of inhuman rage. It let out a deep inhuman roar not meant to come from any such creature with the face of an infant.

"Stand back! I'll handle this!" Kunzite declared before drawing his sword. The blade of the weapon was made of some odd black metal or crystal and had strange runic symbols carved down its center. The silver-haired general raised the sword as the blade suddenly gave off black star-filled energy. "Darkest Night's End!"

With one swing of his arm, Kunzite sent forth a powerful wave of night energy that sliced the worm's body in half down the middle. As the two halves of the creature began to split apart and fall to the ground, the darkness quickly began to swallow them until there was nothing left. Seconds later, the darkness faded to nothing.

Venus stood clutching her wounded arm, blinking in utter surprise. "Were… were you always able to do that?"

"I don't believe so," Kunzite answered as he looked at his blade. "This sword is new. I do not know how I came to possess it, but I believe it has magnified my power."

"…Glad you didn't have that thing when you worked for Beryl."

"Indeed." Kunzite sheathed his sword and walked towards Venus. "How's your arm?"

"It should be okay. My power is already starting to heal the wound."

"Mina!" a familiar voice called. The two looked to see that Artemis had arrived on the scene. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"We got attacked by this ugly worm thing. And no Art, Kunzite had nothing to do with it. In fact he's the reason why it's dead."

Artemis eyed Kunzite suspiciously. "I don't suppose you'd know anything about where this worm came from."

Kunzite shook his head. "I'm just as much in the dark as the two of you are."

"Bang up job there, General," another familiar voice chimed in. The three looked to see Hilda approaching. "Glad to see that the weapon I gave you works well."

"So you're the one responsible for my new costume and weapon," Kunzite realized.

"Thought you could use an upgrade, especially considering how powerful this enemy of ours is. Be glad I didn't dress you in a costume like the one that prince of yours uses. Fighting in a tuxedo? What's up with that?"

"I think it's time you gave us some answers, Hilda," Venus cut in. "First off, are you the reason why Artemis and I can't contact our friends?"

"No. That's the enemy's doing. But it's probably better that they don't get involved in this anyway. Better to have someone else left to take up the fight in case we fail."

"So this enemy is that powerful? Then who or what is it?"

"Sorry. I'm still not at liberty to say." Hilda cautiously looked around the lot. "In fact I probably shouldn't even be talking to you in the open like this. I have no idea how many people here this thing may have corrupted already, and I can't reveal myself to it too soon. But it should be clear to you know that we're on the same side."

"You can't expect us to just take your word for that!" Artemis argued.

"Forget it Artemis. It's clear that we're not going to get anything from her right now," Venus told him. I don't trust you Hilda, but I do trust Kunzite. And since you and he are working together, that's good enough for me right now."

"Wait, you _trust_ Kunzite?" a stunned Artemis asked.

Venus turned on her heel and began to walk off. "Let's go Art. It's been a long day."

Artemis could do nothing but groan with frustration before chasing after her. As the two left, Kunzite changed back to his civilian form.

"Long day, huh?" Hilda remarked as she moved to stand next to him. "So, how'd your big scene go?"

"It… revealed to me certain things which I had forgotten," Keisuke admitted. "You were right Hilda. It seems that there was more between Venus and I during the Silver Millennium than I thought. I don't have the full story though, and it's left me confused."

Hilda's lips curved into a pleased smirk. "Well, well. Seems like my boss was right in picking you for this mission. There may be hope for this world yet."

"What do you mean?"

"…Forget it. Just thinking out loud. Right now I have something else I need to give you." Hilda then delivered a powerful punch to Keisuke's gut that caused him to fall to his knees coughing. "That's for calling me a damn shrew earlier!"

After a moment, Keisuke managed to stop coughing and looked up at her. "How… did you know I…"

"That little charm bracelet of yours that binds you to my service is also a listening device. I need some way to keep tabs on you, what with your rather checkered past and everything. Now suck it up and get on your feet! They're expecting you on the set, so get your worthless ass over there!"

Groaning, Keisuke managed to get back to his feet and trudged off towards the set. It seemed that his current mission was only getting harder and harder.

* * *

Minako sighed heavily as she emerged from the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. It had been a long day, and a particularly long night with all the lines she still had to go over for her next scene. So much had happened and it was proving a lot for her to process. For one thing there was the mystery surrounding this new enemy that Keisuke and Hilda had come there to fight. The one thing Minako was sure about was that the worm creature she and Keisuke had face was likely just the beginning of what this new threat was going to throw on them.

Of course despite the enormity of this new enemy, the thing that concerned Minako the most was her relationship with Keisuke, both past and present. Ever since that memory of their meeting from their past lives awakened in her, Minako was no longer sure about how she felt about the silver-haired general. Then of course there was that awkward moment between them inside the barrier Keisuke had erected around them to block one of the worm's attacks. Minako could still remember his scent and the warmth of his body pressed against hers. She couldn't deny that she had a physical attraction towards him at least, but then Keisuke had hardly been the first handsome man she was hot for.

In the end, Minako could only be sure of two things. The first was that even if the two of them had been in love with each other in the past, it wasn't like they could just pick up where they had left off as if nothing had happened. Too much had changed for both of them, and Minako knew that just because she had gained that memory of past didn't mean Keisuke had regained it as well. The second thing was that even if she tried to pursue a romance with Keisuke in the present, it would only be doomed like it was in the past. Despite being the goddess of love incarnate, true love was just not in the cards for her; Minako had learned that fact years ago when she had fully awakened.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Minako decided that it was best to just put everything out of her mind for the time being and go to bed. She was too exhausted both physically and mentally for any more serious thought. Minako wiped away the condensation on the mirror that had formed from the steam of her shower and glanced at her left arm. Her magical abilities had healed her wound nicely, but it seemed that the worm's attack had left some sort of mark. It was not a scar, but more like a tattoo or a birthmark, colored a sickly yellow and shaped like some sort of alien hieroglyph.

Minako wondered if she should have the mark looked at, but in the end decided to just wait for a bit and see if it faded away on its own. She didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing, which is what it probably was. Yawning, Minako headed into the bedroom and started getting dressed for bed.

* * *

Mason and Lyle's footsteps echoed through the empty halls of Hellmouth Castle as they walked though the east wing. In minutes they had arrived at the room that One-Eyed Pete was using as an office. The room was of medium size, with thick cobwebs decorating the corners where the walls met the ceiling. Pete was sitting behind a giant oak desk surrounded by candles, writing something with a quill pen made from a crooked black and grey feather.

"I trust you gentlemen have news," Pete spoke, not taking his eye off the page he was writing on as he dipped the tip of his pen in a bottle of ink.

"The Coffin Child has delivered the Yellow Sign to Ms. Aino," Mason reported. "However, I'm sorry to say that the child perished in battle."

Pete was indifferent as he continued to write. "It matters not. In fact the Coffin Child's demise was to be expected. What matters is that Ms. Aino has been branded and will soon be ready for the King's arrival."

"There is one hitch though, Maestro. It's the way that the Coffin Child was rubbed out," Lyle interjected. "It wasn't Aino who wiped it out, but the guy playing her lover."

Pete finally paused in his writing and looked at the two. "Is that so? Well now, that is an unexpected twist in our plot. How big of a threat do the two of you estimate him to be?"

"I'm not really a good judge about this sort of stuff, but my two cents is that we shouldn't let our guard down with him."

"We should wait for a bit to eliminate him though," Mason told them. "We've only just started the filming, and there are far too many scenes left for him to appear in. Having to recast would set us back quite a bit."

"No, no. You're quite right. It's still far too soon to write out Cassilda's lover." Pete leaned back in his chair and tented his fingers in thought. "Mr. Worth does make a good point though. This young man may be a problem for us, albeit a minor one."

"So what do we do then?" Lyle asked.

Pete's abnormally large mouth curved into a smirk. "I think we should test this young man's power to see just how strong he is. He's going to get killed off anyway, so we may as well have a little fun before we finish him off. Besides, I want to know all there is about our mysterious knight's strength so that I can make his death scene as glorious as possible."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry this chapter was on the long side, but I knew it was going be a lengthy chapter going in because of the flashback and battle scenes. The hardest parts of this chapter to write were the flashback and the scene of Minako and Keisuke's performance. I apologize if Keisuke/Kunzite seemed a little OOC in this chapter. He's proving to be a tad hard to write for at the moment. I hope everyone at least liked how I updated his look and gave him a new weapon. The main reason for Kunzite's little upgrade was because I wanted him to have sort of a knight-like quality.

I hope to have the next chapter up by next week or so, but it'll depend on what my work schedule for the week is like and all that. So until next time, please review and let me know what you think.


	3. The Door to Carcosa

**Author's Note:** It took me way longer than I would've liked, but I finally managed to get this chapter up. Sorry for the wait, but between my job and the current holiday season, I don't have as much time to work on this story as I normally would.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (nor do I own _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 3: The Door to Carcosa

 _Minako walked into the ballroom, her legs moving of their own accord. She had no memory of how she had even arrived at the castle or why she was even there. When Minako entered the vast chamber, she found it already filled with people dressed for an elegant masquerade ball. Her eyes scanned the room hoping to find someone she'd recognize, but everyone there was wearing a mask of some kind or another. Minako did notice that there was something very odd about the guests at this party though._

 _Every one of the guests was dressed in outfits that seemed to date back to the eighteenth century, as though it were a scene from a royal ball from pre-revolutionary France. But there was something not quite right about the costumes themselves, and it soon dawned on Minako that they were all dirty and damaged in some way. Dress skirts were tattered and coats were coming apart at the seams. The boots that the men all wore were covered in spots of old dirt and dust, and their white shirts were a dirty yellow. It was though the costumes had been taken right off the backs of corpses from the eighteenth century._

 _Minako wondered if the condition of the costumes was merely part of the ball's intended theme, but there was something off about the people themselves. None of them had what any would consider a healthy skin tone. Some of the guests were chalk white, while others were white with a light greenish tint, and others were a sickly shade yellow. Many of these guests were also either shriveled or bloated to certain degrees. As Minako took in the strange scene, another guest brushed past her, a greenish woman wearing a very yellowish-white gown and a brown mask over the upper half of her face. She was so thin that she might've been a skeleton, and her long hair was stringy and almost totally grey. The woman paused to look back at Minako and flashed her a smile showing yellowed and missing teeth before continuing on her way. The encounter caused a chill to run down Minako's spine._

 _Eventually Minako made her way over to the refreshment table, trying to ignore the unnatural quality of the other guests. The cloth covering the long table had yellowed with age and holes that had been eaten into it. The centerpiece was a dirty brass urn containing a bouquet of dead and shriveled flowers covered in cobwebs. Meanwhile the snakes that had been set out were all desiccated and uneatable. One plate seemed to have bugs of some kind crawling on it: just what sort of bugs, Minako couldn't tell. She decided to have a bit of Champaign to try and calm her nerves, but backed away when she discovered that it smelled like ammonia and was likely undrinkable._

 _It was as she was backing away from the refreshment table when Minako got a look in the mirrored wall behind the table. She was clad in an elegant black and gold dress with a large skirt and black gloves that went up past her elbows. A small gold tiara adorned her head, and covering her face was black mask similar to the one she used to wear as Sailor V. Minako was relieved to find that her dress wasn't tattered, but there was another quality to it that somehow made her feel uneasy. The dress looked almost like a wedding dress._

 _"Ah! Our fair Princess Cassilda has finally arrived," a voice spoke, causing her to turn around. Standing before her was a hunched man with one eye, wild black hair and an unnaturally large mouth. "I trust you're enjoying the party?"_

 _"Um… who are you?" Minako asked._

 _"Forgive me. I am Peter Cromwell, ambassador to Carcossa and envoy of His Majesty." The one-eyed man bowed and lightly kissed the back of Minako's hand. Minako's skin crawled at his touch. "But please, called me One-Eyed Pete."_

 _"Sounds like the name of a pirate."_

 _Pete chuckled. "Yes, I suppose it does. I gained that nickname in trade for the eye I lost many years ago in a pub during the course of a… vigorous disagreement I was having with a friend. All the same, the name quickly grew on me."_

 _There was something about Pete that disturbed Minako more than the other guests at the ball. It wasn't simply that Pete had the same characteristics of dress and unnatural skin tone as the other guests; it was that his mannerisms somehow clashed totally with his looks and nature. It was almost like seeing an ape trying to act like a man. Pete seemed to be trying to act the part of an aristocratic gentleman, but he seemed more like some sort of wild beast; like a crazed and savage killer trying to appear as an average and gentle person._

 _"You'll be pleased to know that the King will be arriving in only moments," Pete continued. "I know he's looking forward to seeing you."_

 _Minako tried to ignore Pete and started to look around the room for some sort of exit. She still didn't know what was going on when she noticed a chalk-white man with straight white hair and dressed in a tattered black coat in a red mask talking to the woman she had seen earlier. At that moment, Minako saw what seemed to be a large beetle crawl out of the man's ear and skitter over onto his face. The man looked in Minako's direction, and it was then that she saw a large hole on the right side of his face that showed the interior of his mouth and a small chunk of his skull. The beetle crawled into the hole in the side of the man's face, prompting him to bite down and eat the thing._

 _It was then that Minako realized what was wrong with Pete and all of the other guests at this ball, something that caused her to quickly bring her hands to her mouth to stifle a scream. Every single one of them was dead._

 _"Something wrong?" Pete asked with a raised eyebrow. "There's no need to be so tense, Princess. I can guarantee that the King will adore a radiant gem such as yourself."_

 _Just then Minako felt an intense burning sensation on her left arm, causing her to clutch the spot where the acid burn from the worm had been. She didn't know how, but she knew that something was coming. Soon after, there was a loud sort of pounding that filled and shook the whole ballroom. Minako and every single one of the guests brought their attention to a pair of large and ancient-looking wooden doors at the top of a set of crumbling stone steps._

 _"He is coming!" Pete spoke. "Rejoice, Princess! The door to Carcosa is about to open! And in moments you shall me he who is to be your husband!"_

 _The massive doors slowly began to creak open and an unearthly white mist started to fill the room. At that moment Minako wanted to flee, because she knew that the thing about to come through those doors would be her end._

Minako's eyes snapped open and she shot up in bed, catching her breath. Cold sweat had formed on her brow.

At that moment Artemis, who had been sleeping on the foot of her bed, woke up and raised his head to look at her. "Mina? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Um… just had a weird dream. Nothing to worry about," Minako assured him.

"You sure? You know talking about bad dreams helps them to go away."

"It's nothing, okay? Just go back to sleep."

"Well… alright." Artemis then put his head back down and was once again snoozing. It was at times like this when Minako greatly envied the ability that all cats had to be able to go to sleep in an instant.

Minako sighed and plopped back onto the bed. After putting the blanket back over herself, she clutched the part of her arm that had been burned and now bore the strange yellow mark. Rather than going back to sleep, Minako spent the next half hour staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't shake the feeling that her dream had actually been something more.

* * *

The next day of filming had gone smoothly and without incident. Artemis had stayed back at the hotel trying again to solve the problem with the communicator. The sun was setting as Minako left the lot, and she was feeling exhausted. The scenes that she had done this time had required more than one take unlike her rather memorable scene with Keisuke, and her lack of sleep the previous night hadn't helped. It also didn't help that Minako hadn't been able to take her mind off the dream of the ball.

"Minako?" a familiar voice spoke. She turned back to see Keisuke standing at the lot's entrance. "Might I have a word with you?"

"I don't see why not," Minako answered. "But let's talk somewhere a little more private."

Keisuke nodded and they left the lot together. A few moments later they had arrived at a small park in the village that was practically deserted. The two of them found a bench near a small cluster of trees that was practically secluded.

"So what's up?" Minako finally asked as they sat down.

Taking a breath, Keisuke looked down at his folded hands. "Before that worm creature attacked us, you said you had regained a lost memory from your past life, a memory that involved both of us."

"That's right." Suddenly Minako began to feel nervous. "You, um… you want to know what that memory was about, right?"

"Actually, I think I can guess. You see I had a similar experience after that scene we had shot yesterday."

"You did?"

"Yes. And I've been wondering if perhaps it was the same memory as the one you've regained." Keisuke now looked right at Minako. "In the memory I regained, I told you that I had fallen in love with you. Is that the same memory that you awakened?"

Minako looked down and sighed. "Yep. That's the one. I guess there's no point in hiding it now, huh?"

Keisuke nodded. "The thing is… I still don't have any of the memories leading up to that moment. Do you?"

"Not one. I really wish I knew how we ended up getting so close to each other during that time."

"Indeed. We don't have the full story. But… ever since regaining that memory, I've started looking at you a bit differently. In fact I haven't been able to get you off my mind. Chances are only more memories of our past together will awaken, which means the love we had for each other will likely awaken too. It was the same for our prince and princess."

"Whoa! Back up! Are… is this your way of asking me our?"

Startled, Keisuke blushed. "No! Well… maybe. Honestly, I don't really know what I'm doing. But if there is this connection between us, maybe we should explore it."

Minako shook her head. "That'd be a bad idea."

"Why? There's no longer any social barrier to stop us! The prince and princess are free to consort with one another. Why can't we?"

"Because my duty to protect Usagi still has to come first. I can't afford to let any relationship between us get in the way of that. You plan to go back to protecting Mamoru once this job you're doing for Hilda is done, right? Would you be willing to put any relationship we might have over his safety?"

Keisuke sighed and shook his head. "No… you're right. Both our duties must come before anything else. Still… can't we give these feelings we have awakening for each other some sort of chance?"

"It'd be a waste of time. Trust me," Minako declared as she rose from the bench. "The fact is while I may be the goddess of love, a true love of my own just isn't in the cards for me."

With that, Minako walked off. Keisuke remained where he was and looked out at the park, becoming lost in thought.

"That was harsh," spoke a voice from behind. Keisuke didn't have to turn around to see that it was Hilda.

"Were you listening to that whole conversation?" Keisuke asked as a slight scowl formed on his face.

"Sorry. I'm under orders to keep an eye on you at all times," Hilda explained as she came over to stand next to him. "So, are you just going to leave things like that with our fair Guardian of Venus?"

"What choice do I have? Besides, she was right on one important point. Once this mission of ours ends, I intend to rejoin my fellow Shitennou and resume our duty to protect Prince Endymion. That duty has to come over anything else. I still have strong feelings for Minako, but I can't afford to pursue them."

"…You are some kind of idiot, you know that?" Hilda's comment caused Keisuke to raise an eyebrow. "Did it ever occur to you that you two were destined to be a couple, just like your prince and Sailor Moon? Hell, she and your prince will soon enough be the rulers of this planet, which means you and Minako will be protecting them together. The two of you becoming a couple would likely help with that job."

Keisuke was about to say something to argue her point, but found that he could think of no good argument.

"Besides… right now that girl probably needs your protection the most," Hilda continued.

Just as Keisuke rose from the bench to ask her what she meant, Hilda had vanished. Sighing heavily, he sat back down on the bench and once again became deep in thought. Keisuke began to wonder from Hilda's statement if protecting Minako was part of their mission, and if that was the case, what was she in danger from?

* * *

Minako entered her hotel room to find Artemis sitting on the coffee table and playing a game of solitaire. The frown on the feline's face seemed to indicate that he was losing the game.

"Hey Art," Minako spoke as she plopped down onto the couch behind the coffee table. "So I take it you playing cards means that you couldn't fix out communicator problem?"

Artemis sighed, not once taking his eyes from the cards. "No. I've tried everything I could think of, and I just can't get a signal through. Whatever shield or barrier this enemy is using to block communications is incredibly powerful."

"Then I guess we really are on our own, more or less."

"So, how'd today's filming go?" Artemis asked as he finally turned away from the cards and hopped onto the couch next to Minako.

"It went okay. Afterwards, I ran into Keisuke and we had a little talk. It turns out that little scene we did together for the movie caused him to awaken the same past life memories that I regained."

"You mean the memory where he ended up confessing his love for you? Mina! Surly you aren't going to try and pursue some kind of romance with him! Because that would be a bad idea on so many levels! For one thing, he doesn't deserve a woman like you!"

Minako gave the feline a reassuring pat on the head. "Relax Artemis. We both agreed that us going out would be a bad idea. Not only do neither of us remember what our relationship from the past was like, we both realized that our duty to protect Usagi and Mamoru still come before anything else."

"Well… okay then." Artemis relaxed and curled up on the couch. "You know Mina, it really is amazing how much you've matured since the day we first met and became partners. I really admire the devotion you have to your duty."

"Thanks Art. Of course… if Usagi were here and knew about how Keisuke's turned over a new leaf and everything, I bet she'd be telling me to just forget my duty to her and date Keisuke."

"Are you serious?" Artemis asked, raising his head back up.

"Oh, you don't know? Lately Usagi's been a little gung-ho about seeing me, Rei, Mako-chan and even Ami being in some sort of happy relationship with someone. She said that she couldn't stand the thought of all of us devoting our lives just to her protection."

"She really told you that?"

"Oh yeah. We had a little talk about it last month when we had lunch together…"

* * *

 _Minako and Usagi had met for lunch at their usual place, a little café just a block away from campus. The two blonds had managed to get their usual table by the window and spent the meal talking about the usual things. Their main topic for that lunch was how well married life had been treating Usagi. It was just after the waiter serving them came back with their check when a certain question came up._

 _"So Mina-P, have you been seeing anyone lately?" Usagi asked._

 _The abrupt question nearly caused Minako to swallow her tea wrong. "Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"_

 _"I just want to know if one of my best friends has managed to find the same happiness I have with Mamo-chan. Anything wrong with that?"_

 _"Usagi, I'm perfectly happy with the way things our right now. I don't need a boyfriend in my life. In fact I realized long ago that romance is out of the question for me?"_

 _"What's that supposed to mean?"_

 _"What I mean," Minako began as she reached across the table and placed her hand on Usagi's, "is that my duty to you comes before love or anything else. You're the most important person in my life, Usagi. I don't need a boyfriend or anything in my life to eclipse that."_

 _Stunned, Usagi pulled her hand away. "You can't be serious!"_

 _"I'm perfectly serious about this. And Rei, Mako-chan and Ami would all tell you the same thing if you asked them about their love lives. Our duty as your protectors comes before anything else. None of us need love."_

 _Usagi rose from her chair as her expression became serious. "I can't accept that, Mina-P. I'm touched by how devoted you girls are to me, but I want each of you to your lives to be more than just your duty to me, because you all deserve to have more. So I've decided right now that I'm going to do everything I can to find the perfect boyfriend for each of you."_

 _With that, Usagi left the café before Minako could stop her. Minako let out a heavy sigh, not only because of Usagi's determination to play matchmaker, but also because she had been left to pay the bill for lunch alone._

* * *

"…Later on, I found out that Usagi had similar conversations with Rei and the others. Since then, she's been trying to set us up on dates. Well, mainly she's been setting up Mako-chan and Ami since Rei reacted to Usagi's plan like a cat dumped in water."

"Well, Usagi does make a good point," Artemis admitted. "You should all have more to your lives than just protecting Usagi."

"True. And I have no problem with Usagi setting up Rei and the others with someone, but she's just waiting her time with me." Minako then picked up the Ace of Hearts from Artemis' failed game of solitaire, recalling the final love fortune she got from her old enemy, Phantom Ace. "True love just isn't in the cards for me."

* * *

It was the dead of night as Lyle walked through the empty halls of Hellmouth Castle. He eventually came to a large empty stone ballroom where he found One-Eyed Pete surveying the empty walls.

"This had better be good, Mr. Worthy," Pete spoke, not once taking his eye away from the walls. "I'm busy with making preparations for His Majesty's arrival."

"Sorry to intrude Maestro, but there's something I thought you should probably know," Lyle spoke. "I was in the park keeping an eye on our princess like you asked, and I saw her with the guy we have playing Cassilda's lover in the movie. I overheard them talking, and while I didn't get all the details, it seems that those two used to date or something."

"Is that so? Well, I'll admit that's interesting news, but hardly consequential."

"You sure about that? I mean considering how powerful the guy seems to be, wouldn't him having once dated our princess make him even more of a threat?"

Pete at last turned to face Lyle. "You make a fair point. But I've already arranged a little test for our young warrior's power. Very soon we shall know if he will indeed become a nuisance to our plans."

"I still think we should just eliminate the guy right away."

"Patience, Mr. Worthy. Patience." Pete turned to a pair of large doors atop a set of stone steps at the opposite side of the room. "In the end, this young man will be powerless to change anything. The door to Carcosa is about to open, and when it does, nothing will stop His Majesty from take this world or his bride as his own."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry that this chapter wasn't very action-packed, but I thought there should be a break from the monster battles to do some character stuff. By the way, the dream that Minako had at the beginning of the chapter is based on the very same dream that spawned One-Eyed Pete that I had years ago. Of course I had to add a few new things to it because of my faded memory of the dream.

Of course my favorite scene in this chapter was the flashback to the conversation between Minako and Usagi. Every time when I read the original Sailor Moon manga and get to the parts about how Minako and Rei are so devoted to protecting Usagi that they're willing to sacrifice love, I keep thinking that Usagi probably wouldn't be okay with that. So this chapter was a good chance to explore how Usagi would react and respond if she knew her dearest friends were that die-hard about putting her first.

The next chapter will feature another action-packed battle, so stay tuned. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Comrades In Arms, Part 1

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up. I had planned to post it about a week ago, but then not long after I posted the previous chapter I ended up getting really slammed at my job. Plus I had holiday stuff with the family going on. Then on top of all that, I ended up catching a pretty bad cold that sapped what little energy I had to work on this chapter. I'm better now though, and thankfully things seem to be calming back down at my job. It seemed like several months had gone by though since I put the last chapter up, so I was pretty worried that I'd have a hard time getting back to this story. Of course it turned out that returning to work on this next chapter was easier than I thought it'd be, though I apologize if it turns out to not be my best work.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 4: Comrades in Arms, Part 1

 _Minako was once again at the masquerade ball, standing in the middle of the room. Clutched in her hand was a wine glass filled with a noxious-smelling liquid too toxic for anyone living to drink. Once again, Minako had no idea how she had wound up at the ball, but knowing how she had arrived wouldn't have changed the simple fact that she was there. All around her were the same undead party guests that were always there, talking and laughing amongst themselves when they should be moldering in their graves. It seemed to Minako that many of the guests had become more decayed than the last time she had seen them, as if years had passed since the last time she had attended the ball._

 _Not wanting to stay there a second longer, Minako tossed her glass to the floor, causing the crystal to shatter and its contents to spill out into a sickly yellow puddle. Pulling up her skirt, the blond made a run for the door, occasionally bumping past one or more of the talking corpses that were the other guests. In moments Minako made it to the heavy door that led out of the room, but when she tried to pull it open it wouldn't budge. Of course this did not surprise Minako. This had all happened to her before, and no matter what she did there was no way for her to leave the room. Yet she had to try anyway. She needed to be out of that room and out of that castle before that other door opened._

 _"Why Princess! Surly you can't be intending to leave us so soon," a familiar voice spoke. Minako slowly turned around to see One-Eyed Pete standing before her with his hands folded behind his back and his large mouth curved into a gigantic grin. "I can understand you being nervous, since this is after all a big night for you. But you can't possibly leave now! His Majesty will be here at any moment."_

 _"That's exactly why I'm getting the hell out of here!" Minako told him. "I don't know who this king of yours is, but I want nothing to do with him! Now let me out of this room, or else I'm going to beat you into the ground!"_

 _Suddenly Minako's right upper arm began to burn. The yellow mark that the worm had left on her was glowing through the sleeve of her dress like a beacon._

 _Pete chuckled. "It won't be long now. His Majesty is about to arrive."_

 _Suddenly the large doors atop the steps at the other side of the room creaked open and a sinister mist poured out. As the mist covered the floor, Minako could hear footsteps coming from the foggy entrance. Someone… or something… was coming through. Minako held her breath, watching to see what would come out. She wanted to turn away and try escaping again, but she was frozen in fear. The footsteps seemed to go on for an eternity until at last she saw what appeared to be a shape of a human figure coming through the mist._

Minako shot up in bed with a startled cry. All the color had drained from her face and her whole body was covered in a cold sweat. It took her a few moments to realize that she was once more back in her hotel room. Minako let out a sigh of relief when she finally did, but she didn't feel totally at ease. This was the fifth night in a row where she dreamed of that undead masquerade ball, and each time the nightmare was starting to feel more and more real.

Artemis woke up and raised his head to look at Minako. "Mina, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Art. Just another bad dream."

"I don't like this," Artemis declared as he sat all the way up. "This is the fifth bad dream in a row. Not only that, you haven't been looking well."

"I'm sure I'm just feeling some stress from filming this movie. It's been a little tougher than I thought it'd be. That director of ours is pretty demanding."

"I think you should drop out of the movie. Clearly it's affecting your health."

"Are you kidding? This movie's my big break. Besides, we still haven't found this enemy that's been acting behind the scenes."

"I say let Kunzite and Hilda handle that. This was never our problem to begin with."

"Like hell! I'm not gonna let who or whatever sent that damn worm get away with attacking me. Besides, this enemy could turn out to be a threat to Usagi. We need to find and stop it before it comes after her."

Artemis let out a defeated sigh. "I guess you're right."

"Damn straight. Now let's get back to bed. I have another long day ahead of me."

With that, Artemis curled back up on the bed and closed his eyes. The white feline was out like a light in a second. Sleep would not come as easily to Minako though. In fact she wanted to stay awake out of fear if being back in that masquerade ball again. Sleep did come again to Minako regardless however, though it was thankfully a lite and dreamless sleep.

* * *

The filming of the next scene in the movie was taking place in a wide-open field out behind the studio lot. As the crew was setting up, Keisuke stood in full costume with his arms crossed, waiting for Minako to show up. Keisuke had grown concerned about Minako during the past few days of filming. Artemis had not been the only one to notice the blonde's steady deterioration. Keisuke had to admit that the filming had been a bit stressful, but his instincts told him that Minako's condition might be due to something else, and he again wondered if perhaps she had somehow already fallen into some kind of enemy trap.

At long last Minako showed up in full costume. Instead of the elegant dress she had worn for most of the scenes in the movie, Minako was dressed in a long-sleeved grey shirt along with a pair of long black pants and brown boots. Hanging from Minako's waist was a long sword. Keisuke felt that the look suited Minako quite well. She was after all not only a princess of her own world and the goddess of love incarnate, but also a warrior.

"There you are," Keisuke spoke as Minako approached. "I was starting to worry that you weren't going to show."

"Sorry. I was a little late getting in," Minako explained. "I had kind of a hard time pulling myself out of bed this morning."

"Perhaps you've been pushing yourself too hard. You don't look at all well. In fact I've been starting to worry about you."

"I may seem a little ragged right now, but I'm fine. I already have Artemis fretting over me. I don't need you doing it too."

"I can't help but worry about you," Keisuke declared as he suddenly took Minako's hand. "I know you've made it clear where we stand as far as our relationship, but I still care about you."

Minako blushed and pulled her hand away. "Well… that's real sweet of you, but I told you I'm okay. I may be a little frayed around the edges right now, but I'm no delicate flower."

"I know that quite well. But I don't want you overexerting yourself. After all, the scene we're about to shoot is quite demanding physically."

"What, you think I can't keep up with you in a fight?" Minako asked as a confident smirk formed on her face. "That sounds like a challenge."

"Ah! There you are, Ms. Aino!" Mason spoke as he approached the two with his assistant director in tow. "You've come right on time. We're almost ready to begin filming. Now you both understand the scene we're about to film today, don't you?"

"This is a flashback to when our characters first met, right?" Minako asked.

"Yes. This scene shows the moment when the spark of Cassilda and Altair's forbidden love affair was lit, so I want to see a lot of passion between you two out there. Now, if you'll both take your places, we will begin."

In a few moments, Minako and Keisuke took their marks and Mason called action. The cameras began to roll as the two of them walked into the center of the field.

"I don't see why I have to do this," Minako spoke as they walked, quoting her first line in the scene. "Learning the way of the sword has never been a necessary skill for a princess."

"Our kingdom faces grave enemies right now; enemies that would not hesitate to take your head if chance were to give them the opportunity," Keisuke responded, quoting his line. "Your father wishes for you to be able to defend yourself in the event you get separated from your guards during such an attack. That is why he ordered these lessons."

"That's all well and good, but I fail to see why I need to take these lessons from a commoner such as yourself."

Keisuke stopped and turned to look Minako in the eye. "I may be a commoner, but I am also the best soldier in the kingdom. That is why your father chose me to be your instructor." He drew his sword and pointed the blade at Minako. "Now, draw your weapon so we can begin."

Scowling, Minako drew her own sword and pointed it at Keisuke. The silver-haired swordsman took a swing at Minako, which she dodged by jumping back a step. Keisuke pressed forward and took another swing, which Minako quickly parried. As the sound of their blades colliding rang through the air, Minako suddenly had a flash of déjà vu. Minako stabbed her blade at Keisuke, prompting him to quickly jump back.

Minako then came at him full force, swinging her blade. It was taking all Keisuke had to counter each of her strikes as he was continually forced back. The cameras that had been filming the two of them followed them closely.

"Sir, shouldn't you be yelling cut about now?" the assistant director asked Mason. "They're really breaking from the choreography."

Mason shook his head. "This is fine. I wanted passion, and this is what we're getting."

As Keisuke was forced back to the edge of the field, he finally saw an opening in Minako's defense and took a stab at her. With amazing speed though, Minako dodged the strike by moving to Keisuke's right. In almost the same movement, she swept her leg into Keisuke's, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. Before Keisuke could get up, the blonde got on top of him straddling his waist as she raised her sword high. Minako swiftly moved her sword down towards Keisuke's face only to stop it inches from his eye.

In that moment, Keisuke had a sort of flashback that lasted only a few seconds. He saw Minako in the same position on top of him as Sailor Venus, with a sword poised over his face. Her body was covered in sweat and a triumphant smile was on her face. The flashback ended, and Minako was still on top of him in her regular form. Only rather than smiling, the blonde was catching her breath.

Suddenly Mason began to clap. "Cut! Print! A phenomenal performance, you two!"

"But sir! They went totally off-script!" the assistant director cut in. "Cassilda was the one who was supposed to be overpowered, not Altair! We're going to have to reshoot the whole thing from the beginning."

Mason waved him off and shook his head. "Young man, you have so very much to learn. Some of the greatest scenes in a film come from what happens in the moment, not from what's written on a page! Take the scene in _Raiders of the Lost Arc_ when Indiana Jones shot that swordsman. That scene was originally supposed to be a long drawn-out sword fight like the one we had just filmed, but in that moment the actor simply shot the swordsman because he was tired and because it made more sense! And that scene played far better than any sword fight. No, we shall keep what we've shot as is."

"But the dialogue won't match up!" the assistant director pointed out as he helplessly flipped through his copy of the script.

"A simple matter to correct," Mason declared as he rose from his director's chair. "I shall contact the writer of our script and ask him to make a few revisions. Until then, we shall take a thirty-minute break."

"Sounds good to me," Minako spoke as she rose to her feet and sheathed her sword. "If anyone needs me, I'll be resting in my trailer."

Keisuke watched closely as Minako walked off. As intense as their little sparring match for the cameras had been, it shouldn't have worn her out that much. He was now more convinced than ever that something was wrong with her, and it was more than just the strain of the filming. Rather than go back to his trailer, Keisuke decided to take a long walk to collect his thoughts. It wasn't just Minako that he wanted to think about, but also what he had seen at the very end of the sparring match.

Keisuke felt sure that the image he had seen was the fragment of another memory from his past life, and that the rest of that memory was at the very edge of his brain. He tried hard to get the rest of the memory to come to the surface. Focusing on the memory seemed like a much better use of his energy than worrying about Minako's condition. Unfortunately the more Keisuke tried to force those old memories to come back, the further away they seemed to become.

As Keisuke kept walking, he suddenly found that he had entered the small cluster of trees that was out beyond the field where they had shot the sparring scene. He also noticed that the sky had darkened and that a thick mist was now covering the ground. Quickly realizing that he had fallen into some sort of trap, Keisuke went on red alert. He felt certain that the enemy was about to strike. A pillar of black energy surrounded the silver-haired warrior as he transformed into his alter ego.

A split second after Kunzite's transformation had finished, three skeletal arms suddenly burst from the ground a few feet in front of him. In the few seconds that it took for Kunzite to draw his sword, three mummified grey corpses clad in rusted broken pieces of armor and tattered brown rags had come out of the ground. They stood before him with swords clutched in their boney hands. The eye sockets of their skeletal faces all glowed with balls of a yellow phosphorescent light. Painted on the breastplates covering their chests was a strange yellow glyph-like symbol.

The corpse soldier in the lead roared at Kunzite and charged at him with his sword raised. As the creature came in striking range, it swung his sword down towards Kunzite's head. The silver-haired general easily dodged the attack by stepping to his right and then stabbing the soldier in the side. Kunzite withdrew the blade and then chopped the head of the corpse soldier off. The pieces of the soldier shattered into grey dust before they hit the ground.

The other two soldiers then charged at Kunzite with their weapons raised. Kunzite swiftly cut the soldier on his left with a diagonal slice into its torso, splitting it in two and shattering it into dust. A split second later, he decapitated the remaining soldier and reduced it to dust as well. Just as Kunzite was about to sheath his sword and leave, five more corpse soldiers burst out of the ground a few feet in front of where he was. At the same time, seven more soldiers crawled out of the ground a few feet away behind him, followed closely by two more groups of seven soldiers to his left and right.

At that moment, Kunzite realized that he was going to be in for a very long fight. As three of the corpse soldiers to his front charged into attack followed by five of the ones from behind him, even more of the undead creatures began to burst from the ground.

* * *

Minako was awakened from the nap she had been taking by the sound of her trailer door suddenly opening. She sat up and looked to see that Artemis had come in. The doorknob of the trailer was the type that a cat could easily turn.

"Well hi, Art. What brings you here?" Minako asked.

"I just came to see how you were," Artemis explained as he came over and sat before the blonde. "You looked pretty wiped out this morning."

"I'm okay. I was just taking a little nap when you came in."

"I really don't like the way you've been pushing yourself lately. I get why you can't drop out of the movie, but at the very least I think you should see a doctor. He might prescribe something that could help you sleep at night."

Minako was about to argue the idea when a strange feeling suddenly overcame her. A wave of dread seemed to crash into her as an image of Keisuke suddenly flashed briefly in her mind.

Artemis noticed the look of concerned that had formed on Minako's face. "Mina, what's wrong?"

"It's Keisuke. I don't know why, but… I think he's in danger." Minako rose from her chair. "We have to go help him! Now!"

* * *

Kunzite had just decapitated two more corpse soldiers when another seven began to charge towards him with rusted spears. As they came near, the blade of Kunzite's sword began to crackle with black energy.

"Obsidian Lance!" Kunzite called out as he thrust his sword at the oncoming soldiers.

The energy that had started to shroud Kunzite's sword blade soon formed into a massive cone that took off towards the soldiers like a missile. The cone grew in size as it flew towards the soldiers into it struck all seven, creating a large explosion of black energy. The attack not only totally vaporized the seven soldiers it had been aimed at; it also shattered three of the soldiers that had been following after them. Four more soldiers started to charge in from the right. As Kunzite turned to face them, he was totally unaware that another had managed to sneak up close behind him with a rusted ax and was about to bring it down onto the top of his head.

"Crescent Beam!" called a familiar voice as a beam of gold light shot across the battlefield and struck the head of the soldier attacking Kunzite from behind, shattering its skull.

Kunzite turned around just in time to see the soldier collapse into a pile of dust. He then saw Sailor Venus standing a few feet away with Artemis standing close at her feet.

Venus quickly came over to Kunzite. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Though I wouldn't have been if you hadn't destroyed that thing just now. Thank you."

Venus smiled and nodded. "I had this bad feeling that you might be in trouble. Glad I decided to trust my instincts."

"Um, maybe you two should save this conversation for later?" Artemis cut in. "Right now we have other things to worry about."

Venus and Kunzite looked to see that the remaining soldiers had formed a tight circle around them. The two quickly turned their attention away from each other and focused totally on the enemy in front of them. Suddenly the corpse soldiers began to charge at them from all directions.

"Venus Wink Chain Sword!" Venus called as she winked, causing a long orange chain with a silver sword attached to appear in her hands.

The blonde swung the chain like a whip, cutting through the first two waves of soldiers coming at her and causing them to shatter to dust. At the same time, Kunzite fired another Obsidian Lance attack that obliterated the three waves of soldiers that had been coming at them from his side. There were still many soldiers left though, and they came at the duo relentlessly. As the battle raged on, both Kunzite and Venus became overwhelmed by a strong sense of déjà vu, as though both of them had been in a similar situation many times before.

The two of them continued to fight against the corpse soldiers with a series of well-coordinated attacks. On some instinctual level Venus and Kunzite seemed to know how to support one another on the battlefield, as if they had fought together for years. Eventually Kunzite took out the very last corpse soldier by taking off its head. When the last soldier shattered to dust, the mist that had been covering the ground finally faded away. With the last enemy destroyed, the two of them changed back to their civilian forms.

Suddenly Minako started to faint. Keisuke managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Soon after though, a grey fog fell across Keisuke's vision and he two started to collapse. Artemis could only watch helplessly as the two of them fell to the ground in a pile.

"What's going on?" a concerned Artemis asked.

"Guess I was a little late to the party," a familiar voice spoke. Artemis turned to see Hilda walking into the clearing. "Seems like I'm just on time to help with the cleanup though."

"Are you responsible for what's happened to them?" Artemis asked her with a suspicious glare.

"Relax, mouse breath. I had nothing to do with this. These two should wake up in a bit. For now, we should get them back to Keisuke's trailer until they wake up."

"What's happened to them?"

"Well if I'm right, these two are going on a trip down memory lane."

* * *

Not far away in a tight cluster of trees, Mason was watching the four with one of his cameramen. The cameraman had filmed the whole battle with a small digital camera he had brought with.

"Sir, I got the whole battle. But I don't think we can use any of this footage for the movie," the cameraman spoke.

"It matters not," Mason told him. "This was merely an audition tape of sorts to see what our Mr. Tenju was capable of. I believe that once the Maestro sees it, he will agree with me that our Mr. Tenju should be written out of the film as quickly as possible."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter. Incidentally, that story Mason told about that scene in _Raiders of the Lost Arc_ is a true story. Anyway, I apologize if the battle scenes weren't as good as they could've been. I still have a bit of a hard time writing scenes like that sometimes, especially when they involve multiple combatants.

It'll probably be another two weeks before the next chapter goes up. It's going to be mostly flashback, which means it'll probably be pretty long. So until then, please stay tuned. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	5. Comrades In Arms, Part 2

**Author's Note:** Well, this chapter ended up getting done a lot sooner than I expected. It all came together pretty quickly, and I had a blast writing it. I hope you all enjoy this latest installment.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 5: Comrades in Arms, Part 2

Hilda and Artemis had managed to get the still unconscious Minako and Keisuke back to Minako's trailer. They had chosen Minako's trailer because it had been closer to the site of the battle and was also than Keisuke's. After Hilda and Artemis had gotten the unconscious duo secured, Hilda had gone off to find Mason and tell them that Keisuke was in no condition to continue filming for the day due to him suddenly coming down with a mild case of food poisoning. Fortunately for Hilda, Mason had already decided to totally suspend filming for the day, as some changes were needed for the script. This left Artemis and Hilda with nothing to do but wait for Minako and Keisuke to wake up.

"I really don't like this," Artemis declared for perhaps the fourth or fifth time during the last hour. "We should've taken Mina to the hospital. Keisuke too."

"For the hundredth time, mouse breath. Those two are fine," Hilda assured him. "We both checked them over and found no injuries."

"Then why are they unconscious?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say those two are in the middle of reawakening the rest of their lost memories. Guess my mistress was right about those two."

"Mistress? What're you talking about?"

"Oops. Looks like I said too much just now."

"Are you ever going to tell us who you are?"

"All in good time. What I can tell you now though is that there's a strong bond between your mistress and the former dark general I've been paired with. Honestly, I doubted the strength of this bond between those two because of how Kunzite had been so easily corrupted twice by this Queen Beryl. It would seem now though that I was wrong. I guess now that Keisuke's no longer a pawn of evil, and now that he's in such close proximity to Minako, their lost memories are awakening naturally."

"Wait a minute… are you implying that Mina and Kunzite were a couple during the Silver Millennium?"

"At the very least, they were strongly attracted to each other. But I guess something like that would be the last thing you'd want, mouse breath. I can't tell if you're jealous because you have a thing for your mistress, or if you're being some sort of overprotective big brother to her."

Artemis arched his back and hissed at her. "My relationship with Mina isn't any of your business! Besides, any relationship between Mina and Kunzite is out of the question. Setting aside all the reasons why Kunzite isn't even worthy to be in the same room with Mina, the simple fact is that those two getting together simply isn't meant to be! History has proven that to us twice!"

"But now they're getting a third shot, and you had better hope it works out. The simple fact is that the bond between your mistress and Kunzite was the reason he was chosen to be my partner for this mission."

"Wait. Are you saying that Mina is in some kind of danger?"

Hilda nodded. "She's in the worst kind of danger that could befall a Sailor Guardian, a danger far worse than death. It's closing in on her fast from the look of it, and Kunzite might be the only way to save her. So you had better pray with all your might that their relationship works out this time."

* * *

As Hilda and Artemis continued to Artemis, the minds of Minako and Keisuke drifted back to the time of the Silver Millennium. Minako had gone back to the time when she, as Sailor Venus, had touched down on Earth for the very first time. At the time, Venus had been filled with a mixture of worry and anger. For the fourth time, Princess Serenity had snuck down to Earth. She had heard from Mars and Mercury that it was because the princess had become smitten with some young prince.

This time Venus had decided to go down to Earth personally to drag Serenity back and put an end to the whole thing once and for all. Venus had touched down near the spot that was reported to be the spot Serenity and her prince had been reported to meet. Despite her anger and concern, Venus couldn't help but notice how beautiful the area was. It was a beautiful sunny day. The sky was a brilliant blue with only a few small white puffy clouds in the sky, and the trees were all lush and green. Venus found she could understand part of the reason why Serenity liked to sneak down to the planet so often.

At last Venus found her wayward princess at the top of a small hill under the shade of a large tree. At that moment the twin-tailed blonde was making out with a very handsome young man with dark hair and regal features. Venus had to admit that her princess had good taste. The young man was definitely a catch. Still, this fling of theirs couldn't go on.

After quietly making her way up the hill to stand a few feet away from the oblivious couple, Venus crossed her arms and loudly cleared her throat. The act caught the couple's attention, and Serenity let out a startled cry when she turned and saw Venus standing in front of her.

"Your little rendezvous is over now, Princess," Venus declared sternly. "Now let's go home."

"Oh come on, Venus!" Serenity pouted. "I only just got here! Can't you look the other way and let me stay a little longer?"

Venus shook her head. "You know this sort of thing is forbidden."

"Um, excuse me," the dark-haired prince cut in. "You must be a member of Serenity's royal guard. I've met two of your comrades. I am Prince Endymion. Might I know who you are?"

Venus sighed. "I'm Sailor Venus, captain of Princess Serenity's guard. Now you seem like a nice young man, but I'm afraid I can't permit my princess to remain here."

"If you're worried about your princess's safety, I can assure you that there's no place on Earth safer for her than here," a voice cut in.

Suddenly emerging from behind the tree was a tall young man with long silver hair and dashing features. Venus couldn't help but blush upon seeing the young man. He was just as handsome as Serenity's prince, in fact even more so.

Remembering the situation, Venus quickly composed herself. "And just who are you?"

The silver-haired young man bowed. "I am General Kunzite, captain of Prince Endymion's royal guard. In other words, I am your counterpart. And I can assure you that with me watching over the prince, there is no safer place for your princess. Also, we are on the grounds of the prince's palace, and the most secure place on the planet. No intruder could sneak in without my fellow guards or I knowing about it. It's probably a far more secure place than your Moon Palace."

"And what in Hades is that supposed to mean?" Venus asked, taking offense.

Kunzite flinched, realizing too late his error. "All I meant was that your palace may not be as secure as it could be since your princess has been able to sneak to Earth so many times. Such gaps that would allow her to leave could also allow intruders to come in."

"Hey! My fellow guardians and I do everything we can to make the palace secure. The problem is that our princess is apparently something of an escape artist. She's always so full of energy, and she's so fixed on this planet that she does everything possible to sneak down here. Every time we think we've blocked off one hole, she ends up finding or making another. You have no idea how hard it is to keep an eye on her."

Endymion smirked. "I had no idea Serenity gave you so much trouble. Must be tough with a hyperactive too-curious princess. Right Kunzite?"

Serenity blushed and lightly slapped her prince on the shoulder. "Endymion!"

"What? I think it's cute that you're able to fluster your guards so much. Besides, I'm flattered that you go to so much trouble to see me."

Serenity smiled, and the two of them began to gaze lovingly into each other's eye. The sight caused Venus to let out a heavy sigh.

Kunzite meanwhile smiled and shook his head. "Sailor Venus, might I have quick word with you in private?"

Reluctantly, Venus followed Kunzite to a spot a few feet away from the tree. She looked back and wasn't surprised to see that Serenity and Endymion had already gone back to making out as if nothing had ever happened.

"First, let me apologize for offending you with my earlier comment about your palace's security," Kunzite began. "Second, I would very much like you to reconsider dragging Princess Serenity back to the Moon."

"Are you out of your mind?" Venus exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips. "You know that romances between the people of Earth and those of the Moon Kingdom are the ultimate taboo!"

"I do, but I also believe that trying to separate those two might be an even worse crime. I've never seen Prince Endymion so happy since he met Princess Serenity. Certainly you've noticed such a condition in your princess."

Venus had to admit that Serenity had been different since she first started sneaking down to Earth. She had all the telltale signs of being a girl in love. Venus had also noticed how sad Serenity would sometimes seem after having been dragged back to her room at the palace, and that was something she could not stand. The thing that got Venus even more though was that her instincts as a goddess of love told her that Serenity and Endymion made a perfect match for each other despite the fact that their love was forbidden. The irony was so thick you could almost see it.

Venus shook her head. "If you're suggesting we just look the other way and let the princess come down here whenever she wanted, that's totally out of the question."

"I'm not suggesting anything of the sort," Kunzite told her. "But I am suggesting that we could regulate their visits with one another. We could protect them both and also ensure that the public doesn't find out about their relationship."

"In other words, you're saying that we could act as chaperones. Well… I guess it's better than what we've been doing. The fact is those two are so determined to keep seeing each other than probably no force on Earth or the Moon could keep them apart."

"Then I guess this means we'll be working closely with one another from now on," Kunzite assumed as he held his hand out.

"Looks that way," Venus agreed as she shook Kunzite's offered hand. She then looked back towards Serenity and Endymion and sighed. "Of course you have to know as well as I that this affair of theirs can't last. Even if we regulate their visits with each other, eventually something will go wrong. Someone outside our little circle will find out about them, or there'll be some other catastrophe we can't even imagine. One way or another this will end in heartache for the two of them."

Kunzite nodded. "I know all this very well. But like you just said, nothing we do is going to keep those two apart. All we can do is watch over them and keep them from being discovered for as long as possible."

* * *

In the months that went by since the regulated visits between Serenity and Endymion began, Venus and Kunzite had ended up working fairly closely together. Venus was usually the one to escort Serenity down to Earth when Kunzite's shifts to protect Endymion came. During these shared guard duties, the two ended up becoming quite friendly with one another. Venus found that she greatly respected Kunzite, even though he at times seemed a little arrogant and often hard to read because of his iron poker face. Kunzite meanwhile saw Venus as a capable leader of her own group of guards.

One afternoon, Venus came down to Earth with Serenity to meet with Endymion at the usual meeting spot. When they arrived, the two found Endymion just as usual, but in place of Kunzite was a tall and handsome young man with long wavy dark-brown hair. Venus knew this gentleman to be another of Endymion's guards, Nephrite, whom she had met once or twice in the past on previous visits to Earth.

"Good afternoon, Sailor Venus," Nephrite spoke as Serenity and Endymion went off together down the hill, already lost in their own little word. "It's always a privilege to be in the presence of such a gorgeous woman such as yourself."

Venus couldn't help but roll her eyes. The one thing she didn't like about Nephrite was that he always laid on the charm a bit thick. "Not that I'm displeased to see you, General Nephrite, but where's Kunzite? Wasn't this supposed to be his shift?"

"He ordered me to cover for him while he went to check on a disturbance in his territory. As you well know, we generals are responsible for protecting the lands of this world as well as our prince."

"Has he already left?"

"Last time I saw, he was in the palace armory getting a few things together before heading out. You might still be able to catch him before he leaves."

Venus turned her head towards Endymion and Serenity. "Can you look after those two on your own?"

"You kidding? This duty's a piece of cake. Just leave it to me. Oh, and tell Kunzite I said hi."

Venus didn't care for how lightly Nephrite seemed to take his duties, but she knew that she could trust him to handle guard duty in her absence, at least while she found out what was going on with Kunzite. In a few minutes, Venus found Kunzite in the palace armory packing a few small things into a satchel. She was standing in the doorway when Kunzite finally turned around to leave.

An expression of surprise quickly formed on the silver-haired general's face upon seeing her. "Venus? What are you doing here? Should you not be looking after the prince and princess?"

"Nephrite's got it covered for now. And the reason why I'm here is to find out why you're suddenly rushing off. Nephrite told me that you were going to check out some disturbance in your territory?"

Kunzite's face turned grave as he nodded. "Our soldiers in that area have reported that monsters of some kind have suddenly appeared in the area, though these reports are only vague sightings. Even so, I feel it best to go out and investigate these rumors myself. If these monsters do exist, then they could be a grave threat to the kingdom."

"And to my princess," Venus added as she came further into the room. "Which means I should go with you to investigate. I'll call Jupiter down here to take my place here. Someone needs to be here to escort the princess back to the Moon, and for some reason Jupiter is the only one of the others who can stand being in the same space with Nephrite."

"That's hardly necessary. I can handle this on my own. Besides, this is an Earth Kingdom matter."

"It's a Moon Kingdom matter too if whatever this is puts our princess in danger. In fact this may be connected to a disturbance our people detected a few days ago. Some sort of energy force was reported to have emerged from the sun and struck the Earth. There's a chance it could have something to do with these monsters."

"Just when were you going to tell us about this energy force you detected?"

"My people are still in the middle of investigating it. So far the energy hasn't had any noticeable effects on the planet at all, but there's now a chance that these monsters were somehow produced by this energy."

"Be that as it may, I can handle this investigation on my own. There's no need to put you in danger."

A wave of anger suddenly rose up in Venus. "Are… are you saying I couldn't handle myself if we had to battle these monsters?"

"You're a very capable guard, Venus. But battles like this should be left to someone like me. After all, this is not your world. The Moon and your home planet are peaceful worlds, but the Earth is still a harsh place, and someone such as myself is more suited to dealing with its perils."

"Where in Hades is all this coming from?" Then the realization of what Kunzite seemed to imply struck her like a falling meteor. "By the gods… are you saying I couldn't handle myself in these battles because I'm a woman?"

The accusation caused Kunzite to visibly flinch. "Well… here on Earth it is traditionally the role of the men to do the fighting and the role of the women to handle the household. I realize it's quite different on the Moon and on the other worlds of this solar system, but as I said, the perils of my world are quite harsh. Probably far harsher than any threat you've had to deal with."

"I'll have you know that Venus can be just as harsh a place as Earth, and that I'm just as capable a soldier as you or any other man! I don't need you to protect me or tell me that a battle is too dangerous!"

"But I could not live with myself if you died accompanying me to face what is clearly an unknown enemy!"

Venus let out a heavy sigh as she took a moment to compose herself. Soon her eyes fell on a sword hanging on the wall behind Kunzite, and an idea formed in her head.

"Okay. How about this?" Venus asked as she went over and took the sword from the wall. "Before you leave, you and I have a little sparring match. If I win, I go with you to investigate these rumored monsters. On the other hand if you win, I'll suck it up and let you go on alone. Does that sound fair?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

"What's the matter, general? Afraid you're not man enough to take down a mere woman?"

Kunzite scowled. "Very well. There's a practice arena down the hall that we use to train. We can hold our duel there."

In a few moments, the two of them had gone down the hall to a small circular arena with a few small windows near the top of the walls. Kunzite had drawn his sword as soon as they entered.

"The first one to pin the other to the ground wins. Sound good?" Venus asked as they took their places in the ring.

"Fine with me. And I have your word that you'll stay behind once I defeat you?"

"That's if you defeat me, and yes."

"Then lets begin!"

With that, Kunzite charged straight towards Venus and swung his blade down towards her. Venus quickly blocked Kunzite's strike with her own blade and weaved tot the right to avoid his next strike. She then slashed her blade towards Kunzite's face, forcing him to quickly parry. Suddenly Venus began a string of relentless attacks that began to force Kunzite back towards the wall of the arena. Kunzite was greatly surprised by the blonde's speed and power, and it was keeping everything he had to block her attacks.

Just as they were about to reach the wall, Venus suddenly swept her leg into Kunzite's and knocked him to the ground. Before he could recover, the blonde sat down on top of him and brought the point of her blade inches above his eye.

A triumphant smirk formed on Venus's face. "So, I guess this means I win."

Kunzite took a big gulp. "Um… yes. You can accompany me on the mission."

"Great!" Venus declared as she got to her feet and tossed the sword away. She then began to walk towards the arena's door. "I'll contact Jupiter and tell her to get down here to cover for me. Then I guess I had better put together some previsions for this trip, huh?"

Kunzite sat up and remained where he was on the floor for several moments after Venus had left. He could not believe he had been so soundly defeated. The captain of the Moon Kingdom's royal guard was definitely more than a match for him. She could've easily just killed if she had wanted to. Kunzite had clearly underestimated Venus, and not only that, the way she had so easily taken him down turned him on.

* * *

As soon as Jupiter had arrived to take over chaperone duty, Venus and Kunzite had set out on horseback for the area of the disturbance. Kunzite had led Venus through a subterranean tunnel a few miles out from the palace to an area in Kunzite's territory where most of the monster sightings took place. The area in question was a vast desert that seemed to go on endlessly in all directions. Venus had been glad she had taken Kunzite's advice about bringing plenty of water. The sun was still fairly high in the sky and the heat was incredible, but it wasn't anything that Venus couldn't handle.

"I bet you've never been in a place quite like this, have you?" Kunzite remarked as they continued to ride.

"You kidding? This desert pales in comparison to the ones on my home planet."

Kunzite internally kicked himself for once again underestimating the blonde. "My apologies. It seems I can't stop myself from assuming you're weak. Though in my defense, you've never really talked about what your home world is like."

"I haven't?" Venus asked, blinking in surprise. "Huh… you'd think with all the time we've spent together during these months, I'd have brought up my home planet at least once. Though I guess since I'm stationed on the Moon, I don't really think that much about home."

"You've told me quite a bit about what the Moon is like, but not about your home world. In fact my fellow generals and I hardly know all that much about the other worlds in this solar system."

"Well if you want to know something, now's the perfect time to ask."

Kunzite held his chin in thought. "Alright, I've met you and the guardians from Mercury, Mars and Jupiter, but are there not four other planets in this solar system? Do they not have guardians, and if they do, why have I never met them?"

"That's your first question? You make a big deal about hardly knowing anything of my planet, and then you ask about the outer worlds?"

"Humor me. I do very much want to know about the planet where you come from, but the question of these outer worlds has been on my mind off and on for a few weeks now. It was just something that occurred to me the other day."

"Well if you really want to know, there are said to be guardians from Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. But the guardians from Uranus and Neptune are charged with protecting the kingdom from invaders who would come from outside the solar system, so they're not permitted to leave their posts. As for Pluto, she's said to protect a hidden door in the palace of the Moon Kingdom, a door that only the Queen is permitted to approach. I've never met any of these guardians, and honestly I doubt that they actually exist."

"How interesting. And Saturn? Is that world's guardian also bound to her post?"

Venus shuddered upon the mention of the final outer planet's name. "Saturn is a forbidden world, a world that's been dead for as long as anyone can remember. There was once life on that planet. Explorers found ruins of a mighty civilization that once thrived there long before the Moon Kingdom rose to power, and it's said that a few other civilizations rose and fell before that one. But they say that each kingdom that rose on Saturn fell to ruin because they were all tainted by some unspeakable darkness."

"What sort of darkness?"

"Nobody knows. The few explorers that dared examine the ruins on that planet say that a dark entity from far beyond buried itself in the planet and corrupted all life that rose upon it. There's also a theory that when the final civilization of Saturn fell, the darkness that corrupted it fled from the planet and buried itself deep within another world."

"And which world was that?"

"...Earth. Or at least that's what some people say. Nobody knows for sure. In fact there's no evidence to indicate that this darkness actually exists. It's just a ghost story told on all the other worlds. But Saturn is shunned because of that mass graveyard covering its surface. Those few who have been there say that the whole place felt tainted. They also say that another kind of darkness sleeps on that planet. It's said to be that planet's guardian, but it's a guardian that if awakened will bring nothing but destruction."

Kunzite was left a bit unsettled by the story Venus had just told him. "Well, I guess that's what I get for being curious. Okay then. I think for now I'll just stick to questions about your own planet."

Venus smiled and nodded. "What do you want to know first?"

In the few hours that had gone by, Venus ended up telling Kunzite a great deal about her home planet; about its vast desert lands and its glittering metal kingdoms. In the process, she even told Kunzite a bit about her childhood and what it was like growing up in her kingdom before being called to serve as captain of the guard for the Moon Kingdom. Kunzite had even shared a bit about his own childhood in response. Eventually the sun had started to set, and the duo had reached a dune overlooking a field of rocks where some of the monsters were sighted. They dismounted their horses and came to the crest of the dune, crouching down so they could look without being spotted.

Down in the clearing they quickly spotted the creatures they had been looking for. There were at least sixteen or seventeen in all. They were all muscular with very dark pine-green skin. Their heads were apish, with yellow eyes, long pointed ears and mouths filled with sharp yellowish-white fangs. White claws tipped the fingers and toes of the beasts, and they all wore pieces of tattered brown cloth around their waists. Many of the creatures were clustered around a huge campfire, eating meat from severed human limbs. One of them was gnawing on a head that had been reduced to a human skull.

"Well, guess these monsters really do exist," Venus whispered. "And they're far more disgusting than I imagined."

"There's a small village not far from this area," Kunzite whispered back, narrowing his eyes at the creature gnawing on the skull. "These things must've attacked it. There's no other way they could've gotten their food supply. None of my troops have been reported missing. And that skull… it's from a child. I've never encountered any monsters as loathsome as these."

Venus put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's take these things out before they harm anyone else."

Kunzite nodded and led the way back down the side of the dune. Leaving their horses where they were, the two circled around to approach the clearing from the left. The beasts were totally oblivious as Venus and Kunzite reached the clearing's edge.

As soon as Kunzite drew his sword, the blade turned pitch-black as he thrust it at the gathering of monsters. "Obsidian Lance!"

A massive cone of black energy flew from the sword like a rocket and struck the campfire, obliterating the monsters that had been surrounding it. The remaining monsters quickly began to rush towards the intruders that had killed their comrades with claws and fangs bared.

Venus pointed her finger at one of the monstrosities on the right. "Crescent Beam!"

A beam of gold light shot from the blonde's finger to the center of her target's forehead, blowing a hole straight through it and knocking it to the ground. Venus then fired two more blasts at the creatures on the left, striking them in the chest and face and taking them out. Meanwhile, Kunzite swiftly impaled the first creature that came in striking range in the chest. A second later he withdrew his sword from the dying beast and cleaved another one in the head. Another of the monsters attempted to tackle Kunzite to the ground from the right, but he managed to push it away and impale it through the heart.

In that brief moment of time it took for Kunzite to stab the monster through the heart, another one of the creatures came at him from behind and almost slashed him in the back, but at the last second Venus shot it through the head with another Crescent Beam attack. Venus and Kunzite nodded to one another before resuming the task of eliminating the monsters. After a few more minutes that seemed more like hours, every single one of the beasts had finally been killed. The two of them stood catching their breath, looking carefully over the battlefield to make sure the beasts were all dead.

"I think we got them all," Venus spoke.

"Indeed," Kunzite agreed before turning to face her. "Thanks for saving me earlier, by the way. I owe you one."

Venus smiled in response. But her smile turned to a look of shock when she glanced down at one of the fallen creatures. "Kunzite, look!"

Kunzite looked down at the dead monster Venus was now pointing at and became equally as shocked as the blonde was. Before their eyes, the body of the monster had morphed into that of a thin and fairly young-looking man with dark hair and olive skin. The two of them looked around and saw that the corpses of the other monsters had also morphed into humans.

"What madness is this?" Kunzite asked.

"Something turned these humans into monsters. We may be seeing the influence of that darkness from the sun I told you about this morning. Something is twisting people into cannibalistic beasts."

"Could these monsters have also come from the same village as their victims?"

"Quite possible. They probably began slaughtering their fellow villagers as soon as they turned. Or maybe they came from another village nearby and attacked the one you're talking about after finishing off their own. You said these sightings have been happening for days."

"And they've been sighted in more than one area. This may not be the end of it."

"It's also very possible that more of these monsters could end up coming into being. All it'd take is for this darkness to corrupt more humans."

"Then we have much work ahead of us. Venus, I'd like your help investigating the other areas where these things have been sighted. If there are more out there, they need to be eliminated as soon as possible."

"Happy to help. But we also need to figure out what's making these things. Otherwise they could become a serious threat to both your kingdom and mine."

* * *

More weeks passed, and Venus and Kunzite split their time between guarding Serenity and Endymion and patrolling the lands that fell under Kunzite's jurisdiction looking for more monsters. They ended up finding and having to slaughter more small groups of the beasts that would pop up, and as they days went by it seems as though more packs of monsters were starting to show up and in greater numbers. It was starting to seem like there would be no end to the things, and there were even sightings of them occurring in the territories of the other Shitennou. Meanwhile as all this was going on, there was sort of a general unrest that was starting to grip the people of Earth.

Despite these dark times though, Kunzite and Venus had ended up becoming quite close with one another through their shared battles with the monsters. Before either of them knew it, Venus and Kunzite would start thinking about one another almost constantly when not in each other's presence. They had always gotten along extremely well, and there had always been a physical attraction between them that each was conscious of, and it seemed that all that had blossomed into love. Yet both chose to keep these feelings secret from one another for professional reasons. As time went on though, Kunzite was finding it harder to keep his feelings for Venus a secret.

One night, Kunzite and Venus had just finished clearing another village of monsters. There were only five of the creatures this time, and it seemed that the duo had arrived just in time to keep the things from slaughtering the rest of the village. They stood in the middle of the road, looking of the corpses of the things that had now turned human.

"I'm glad we were able to save a village this time, but these lives were still lost simply because they mutated into those wretched things," Kunzite spoke, looking down at the corpse of a young woman that had moments ago been a fanged green-skinned monstrosity with a mixture of sadness and disgust. "It's as if there's a plague spreading across the land."

"Maybe that's what it is," Venus theorized. "I've had Mercury looking into these monsters for the last few days, and her current theory is that this is either the work of some kind of disease or there's some enemy going around and transforming people into these monsters with some kind of magic. Until we find the exact cause though, this is just going to keep going on."

"And in the meantime, more lives will be lost."

Venus put a hand on Kunzite's shoulder. "I'll have Mercury start working night and day on this. We will find out what's behind these monsters before the sickness destroys both our kingdoms."

"I would like Zoisite to work with Sailor Mercury on this matter as well. Of us Shitennou, he is the most scholarly."

"They say two heads are worth the price of one."

Kunzite raised an eyebrow. "Um… that's not how that goes. I've noticed that you've had quite a bit of trouble with our Earth sayings. I think you meant to say that two heads are better than one."

"Whatever," Venus replied as she smiled and stretched. "Well, there's nothing more for either of us to do here, so I think we had better head back."

Just as Venus was about to turn and leave, a cloud moved away from the moon and caused its light to shine down upon the blonde. It was then that Kunzite realized once again just how beautiful Venus was, and that he could no longer deny his feelings for her. Yet this was not the proper place to confess them.

"Venus… if I might be so bold, I know that have another patrol together scheduled for tomorrow. If you have time after we're done, I'd like you to show you around my home kingdom. You've told me so much about your home planet that it's only fair I return the favor by showing you where I come from."

"…Sure. Why not? I look forward to seeing what your kingdom is like."

Thus the two of them left village and returned to their respective posts. The next day after their scheduled patrol, Kunzite took Venus on a tour of his homeland. That night he confessed his love to Venus, only for Venus to end up rejecting him out of duty. It was here that the shared recollections of Minako and Keisuke came to an end and they came out of their dreams of the past.

* * *

Minako woke up on her bed in the trailer to find Keisuke leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His expression seemed more serious than usual.

"The first time we met, Prince Endymion made a remark about how difficult it must have been for you to look after a hyperactive too-curious princess like Serenity," Kunzite spoke. "Shortly afterwards, I recommended that we regulate the visits between the prince and princess, as keeping them apart would be too difficult. You remember this, don't you?"

Minako nodded. "That, and everything else. Including our missions together to kill those monsters that we know now were being created by Beryl. Or at least I assume Beryl made them. You'd know about that part than I would."

"She made them. But that's not really relevant right now. You and I should have a talk. Outside."

Minako agreed and followed Keisuke out of the room. Artemis asked Minako if she was okay as she came into the other room, but the blonde totally ignored him as she followed Keisuke outside. Hilda meanwhile didn't say a word to either of the two. As soon as they got outside, the two quickly found a place where they wouldn't be overheard.

"I'm sure you can guess what I wanted you to talk about," Kunzite began. "Clearly we've both regained the full memory of our past lives together, including the events that led to us falling in love with each other."

"I have. And… I have the same feelings now that I did back then." Minako's face had turned a bright shade of red. "Now that I remember everything, they've come back to me in one big wave. This is probably how Usagi and Mamoru felt when they met each other again in this life and recalled how their love began."

Keisuke put a hand on Minako's shoulder. "And just like for them, there's no real reason why we can't pursue these feelings."

Minako pulled away and turned around. "Yes there is. Even though there's no longer any taboo to keep us apart, and romance between us would only end badly."

"Why do you think that? What on earth could lead you to such a stupid conclusion?"

"Because true love isn't in my destiny!" Minako snapped as she turned back around with tears in her eyes. "I learned long ago that such a thing would always be out of my reach. Just look at how things ended between us back during the Silver Millennium, and how they ended again in this life with the Dark Kingdom came back! There's just no future for us!"

"But it's different this time! We've been given one more chance, and I'm clearly no longer under the sway of that witch, Beryl!"

"But something else would probably go wrong if we gave into these feelings for each other! And I… I couldn't live with myself if I ended up losing you again, especially not now that you've become the good man you once were again. I'm sorry, but for your sake more than mine, we just can't be together."

With that, Minako began to head back to the trailer. Keisuke thought about going after her for a moment, but instead stormed off back to his trailer. Meanwhile as Minako reached the door of her trailer, she saw Hilda standing by it, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Let me guess, my guy confessed his undying love for you and you rejected him," Hilda deduced. "Guess now I'm going to have to deal with more of his damn sulking. Thanks a ton."

"I don't see how my relationship with Keisuke is any of your business."

"It is a little bit my business. And I think I have a bead on the situation. You think that the two of you can't be together because you're essentially cursed, right? That destiny is against you?"

"Again, not your business. But that is pretty much it."

"You know, my people seem to have a much different view about destiny than your kind. We believe that anyone with a strong enough willpower can bend destiny to what they want it to be. Your princess seems to be ample evidence that such a thing is true."

"Well I'm not Usagi. And in case you haven't noticed, Keisuke and I have already struck out two times before."

Hilda looked Minako straight in the eye and gave her a steely gaze. "And you call yourself a warrior and a Sailor Guardian. I feel sorry for your princess for having such a weak-willed little girl as the leader of her guard."

"If you're looking to pick a fight, you picked a really bad time!"

"Oh I'd love that, but neither of us has the time. We have much bigger problems to deal with right now. But I will say one last thing on the matter. Quit being such a whiney little bitch! If you think the fates are against you, then punch them in the face, break their damn bones under your heel, and just take what you want like a true warrior and princess would! Otherwise you're unworthy of your crown and your power."

With that, Hilda walked off. Minako meanwhile went back into her trailer to change out of her costume. It had been an exhausting day both physically and emotionally, and all she wanted to do at that moment was go back to her hotel room and crawl into bed.

* * *

It was late at night as One-Eyed Pete sat behind the desk of his moldering study with his boney fingers tented, watching the screen of a laptop that Mason had placed before him. Mason and Lyle stood at each of his chair also watching the screen, which showed a video of Kunzite and Venus battling the undead warriors from earlier in the afternoon.

"Well… it seems that the young man we cast as Cassilda's lover is a bit stronger than I first expected," Pete observed. "He could pose a problem for us."

"Then we need to get him out of this picture as soon as possible," Lyle declared. "Aren't we at a spot yet where we can kill him off?"

"We have but four more scenes left to shoot. Then we'll have covered all of the existing script," Mason informed them.

"Then I suppose it is high time I begin work on the final two acts," Pete decided as he reached for his quill and a sheet of yellowed paper. "Mr. Tenju will be written out in the first one."

"If you don't mind me asking Maestro, how do you intend to kill him off?" Lyle asked.

A huge beastly grin formed on Pete's face. "Not to worry, Mr. Worthy. I already have a few ideas in mind, and all of them are sure to succeed."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** There we have my interpretation of what went on between Venus and Kunzite during their past lives. Of course I had to embellish a bit and take a few liberties here and there. That very first scene of the flashback is based on a page from the original Sailor Moon manga with a few small alterations. As much as I love the original manga, the biggest problem with it is that while Usagi, Chibi-Usa and even Mamoru got ample attention throughout the story, the other characters were left sort of abandoned. So it's pretty much up to us humble fan fiction writers to fill in the gaps regarding things like their histories. I'm actually pretty proud of this version I've come up with, and I hope everyone else enjoyed it too.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. The Mad Playwright

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 6: The Mad Playwright

It was just after 6:00 AM as Minako finished getting dressed to go to the studio. The reason she was up so early was because she had had another dream during the night where she was back at that masquerade ball of the dead. It was just the same as all the previous dreams. As always it started with her finding herself in the middle of the ballroom and trying to get out, only for the doors to be locked. This time she had tried to transform into Sailor Venus to escape but found that she had been powerless.

After Minako's failed transformation attempt in the dream came another encounter with One-Eyed Pete, and then the door for Pete's mysterious king had opened, which caused her to wake up. Minako was getting very tired of having this recurring nightmare night after night, and she was now starting to think that there was something very wrong with her. Not only that, the spot on her arm where that strange yellow burn mark was had been aching for the past few days. The mark was definitely not a normal burn, and it didn't look like it was going to fade anytime soon. Minako had found herself repeatedly wishing that Ami were there to take a look at the mark, because if there were anyone who could figure out what it was and how to get rid of it, it would have to be the smartest member of the Sailor Guardians and one of Japan's top young medical students.

As Minako made her way to her hotel room's small kitchen for a quick breakfast, Artemis entered the room. "Mina, are you heading out to the studio already? I didn't think they needed you until about 8:00 to film the next scene."

"They don't, but I figured since I couldn't sleep in, I could go for a long walk before heading out."

"You're still having trouble sleeping? Just what's happening with you Mina? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Minako sighed, realizing that Artemis was not going to let this go. "I keep having the same dream. I end up at this creepy masquerade ball full of dead people, where I meet this guy who calls himself One-Eyed Pete. He's dead just like everyone else there, and he keeps calling me Cassilda."

"As in the name of your character in the movie?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow.

Minako nodded. "Pete first introduced himself as some sort of envoy for the King in Yellow. Usually in the dreams after I meet Pete, a door in the room opens and his king starts to come in. That's when I usually wake up, but at the end of each dream I get closer to seeing what the guy looks like."

"And you've been having these dreams almost since the start of the film?"

"Pretty much. At first I brushed the dreams off as the movie being too much on my mind. I mean it is a pretty strange movie. But now… I'm worried it might be something more."

"Hilda warned us from the start that this movie was part of the current enemy's plot. These dreams could be its way of attacking you."

"Well it's not going to stop me. If the only way to end these dreams is to beat this enemy, then that's all the more reason to keep fighting and take it down as soon as possible."

"Are these dreams the only thing that's been happening to you lately?"

Minako touched her aching arm for a moment and contemplated telling Artemis about the burn mark, but in the end decided not to. There was nothing Artemis could do about it, and she didn't want him worrying more than he already was.

"Yep. That's all that's been happening," Minako lied, putting on a big smile. "Well, I should get going. I'll see you later Art."

With that, Minako left the kitchen with the PB&J sandwich she had made in her hand. A bit later as Minako opened the door out of the room, she glanced down and noticed a small white envelope with her name on it on the floor. Minako picked the envelope up and opened it. Inside were two items. The first was a simple note that she immediately read.

 _'Remember your destiny. I'll be seeing you again soon.'_

The note was unsigned, and there was no return address on the envelope so there was no way of telling whom it was from. Minako look at the second item that was in the envelope, which caused a chill to go down her spine. The item was a simple playing card, the Ace of Hearts. This was the card drawn in the final love fortune given to Minako by her old enemy, Phantom Ace. But Phantom Ace was long dead, and there was no one besides Minako and Artemis who knew about the love fortune. So who could've left the note?

Disturbed by the note and the card, Minako quickly stuffed both into her bag and tried to pretend that neither existed. As she left to go on her walk though, the blond couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching her.

* * *

Filming for the next few scenes was already well underway. Minako was glad that only one of the scenes she was in that day was being done with Keisuke. It had been two days since they had fully recovered the missing memories of their past lives regarding their relationship, and their little fight outside the trailer, and things were still incredibly awkward between them. Thankfully Keisuke had been keeping as much distance from her as possible. Though he clearly didn't like that Minako had rejected him yet again, it seemed as though he had accepted her decision.

At that moment, Minako was sitting on the sidelines to watch the filming of Keisuke's next scene. He was performing the scene in question with a bald man in his late fifties with an iron-grey beard and blue-grey eyes. His costume consisted of a gold crown, a long-sleeved grey shirt, long black pants and a red cape with white fur lining the edges. This man was a veteran actor known as Sir Ian Cumberland. Minako had heard that Sir Ian had starred in a few movies about the legendary King Arthur done decades ago, but was mainly known for his performances on the small stage in many of Shakespeare's most well-known plays. In this movie, Sir Ian was playing King Ursa, the father of Minako's character, Cassilda.

"Alright. One more time from the top," Mason told the two actors from his director's chair. "Mr. Tenju, I like the passion I'm getting from you. But you Sir Ian, I'm afraid I could be getting just a little more emotion from you. You seem just a little too cold and indifferent."

"Understood, Mr. Director," Sir Ian responded with a sigh as he sat back down in the throne that was on the set. "This had better be the last bloody take though, because it is well past lunch and I am famished."

"One more and we should have it. Now, action!"

Keisuke walked up to the throne and kneeled before Sir Ian. "Your Majesty, it is urgent that I speak with you."

"I know already why you come before me, Altair," Sir Ian responded. "You've come to beg me to stop my daughter's marriage to the King in Yellow."

"Surely you can't be so callous as to sell your only daughter off to such an inhuman monster."

"Believe me Altair… there is nothing easy for me about this decision." There was a look of sadness on Sir Ian's face as he rose from his chair. "You forget that Cassilda is my child, the most precious thing I have in this life. But I have to think of the greater good. If I were to deny the marriage, then it would mean war with Carcosa, and that it a war we simply cannot win. The soldiers are not men but devils! They could easily slaughter us all and leave this kingdom as nothing more than a burning ruin."

"But that's all the more reason why you cannot allow the marriage!" Keisuke declared as he rose to his feet. "You said so yourself. The people of Carcosa are inhuman devils, and you would give your own daughter to the king of those things?"

"Better to sacrifice on life than lives of thousands, because that's what we would be sacrificing if I were to deny the marriage. Our course has been set Altair, and nothing can be done about it."

"I cannot believe that such a great and noble ruler such as you could be so weak-willed as to bow to the will of another king!"

"The crown I wear upon this head is a heavy one, as are the crowns of all kings except for perhaps the one worn by Carcosa's. I must always think of the good of my people above my own wishes."

"Then to be king is to be slave."

"Perhaps. And perhaps that the King of Carcosa is truly the king of kings, for no other king has greater power than He. Go now, Altair. Your pleas for my daughter fall on only deaf ears."

Keisuke opened his mouth to say something more, but after a moment finally turned on his heel and stormed out of the throne room.

"Cut and print!" Mason commanded as he rose from his chair. "That will do it for now. We'll break for lunch and start the next scene when we come back."

Keisuke headed back through the throne room door and headed off set. As he did, he ended up going up to Minako's chair, which caused him to freeze.

Minako rose from her chair and smiled. "Um, you did good work there."

"Thank you," Keisuke responded.

"Just the two people I was hoping to run into together," a voice spoke. The two looked and saw Sir Ian standing before them. "Well, now that our brutal taskmaster of a director is done with us for the moment, I was hoping you two would join me for lunch."

"Sounds okay to me," Minako agreed. "How 'bout it Keisuke?"

"Um, sure. It would be an honor."

Moments later, the three of them were all sitting together at a small table that had been set up under a large tent behind the studio lot. It was a small private table that had been set up well away from the long picnic tables meant for the other actors and members of the crew.

"I confess the reason I asked you two to dine with me today is because there's something I've been curious about," Sir Ian began. "I've seen footage of your previous performances together and I've been wondering, are the two of you dating in real life?"

Both Minako and Keisuke visibly blushed at this claim. Though Keisuke did a good job mostly of keeping his usual look of calm.

"Um, we're actually just really old friends," Minako told Sir Ian with a large smile.

"That's right. We… go back a long way," Keisuke added. Minako glanced at Keisuke and couldn't help but notice the hurt that seemed to be in his eyes.

"Ah. Well, you can't blame me for my assumption," Sir Ian told them. "Such a thing is not uncommon between leading actors in such roles, you know. Please forgive me for being so presumptuous."

"Don't worry about it," Minako told him. "So Sir Ian, what do you think of this movie we've been doing."

"It is interesting, but quite honestly I had my reservations about performing in it when I was offered the role. After all, it is based loosely on a play with an unsavory reputation that I know all too well."

"You mean the play called The King in Yellow?" Keisuke asked. "The director did mention something about it to us when we first came here. He said that the play is said to drive those who simply read it insane."

"All too true, I'm afraid. Or it causes them to simply vanish from the face of the earth. I know quite a bit about The King in Yellow is because it was written by a distant ancestor of mine, Peter Cromwell."

A chill ran down Minako's spine upon hearing that name, because she had heard it before in her dreams. "Um… would this ancestor of yours have gone by a nickname, like One-Eyed Pete?"

Sir Ian gave her a look of surprise. "Why yes! He gained that name after a fight in a pub that claimed one of his eyes. Peter was a bit of a rough you see, and rather disturbed. But then most creative geniuses are known to be a bit eccentric, but my ancestor was said to be always on the brink of madness. He was an excellent painter and a skilled musician, though his works were rather disturbing. Practically all of old Peter's musical compositions have been lost, and most of his paintings were burned because the public found them blasphemous yet strangely beautiful. Only a few of those paintings still exist, locked away in the private collections of wealthy individuals with strange and decadent tastes.

"But of course The King in Yellow was old One-Eyed Pete's most infamous creation. The stories say that after he finished writing it, he shot himself in the head with a pistol… yet he did not die. Or at least that's what some people believed. There was one witness, his maid, who had seen Pete shoot himself in his empty eye socket. But when they authorities came, his body was missing. Of course this was all hundred of years ago, so the old fellow can't possibly be alive today." Suddenly Sir Ian's phone began to ring, and he scowled a bit when he looked at the Caller ID. "Oh, this is my agent. He's probably calling to tell me about yet another part that I didn't get. If you'll both excuse me."

As Sir Ian left to take his phone call, Keisuke turned to Minako and saw a look of utter terror frozen on her face. He was surprised that Sir Ian's story could have so visibly disturbed her.

"Minako, are you okay?" Keisuke asked. When she didn't respond, he put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to let out a startled gasp. "What's wrong?"

"Uh… I'm fine. I just… excuse me," Minako spoke before quickly rising from her chair.

Keisuke watched with concern as Minako dashed off, wondering what about that story had frightened so much. Unbeknownst to him, Artemis had been sitting a few feet away from the table silently since Sir Ian's story about One-Eyed Pete began, and he knew exactly why Minako had been so unsettled.

* * *

Artemis had gone back to the hotel and immediately fired up Minako's laptop to do some research on Peter Cromwell. Everything the feline found on the mad playwright lined up with Sir Ian's story. The part of the story that troubled Artemis the most though was one that said One-Eyed Pete didn't die when he shot himself. Artemis knew that such thing could easily be possible, and the fact that Minako had been encountering the playwright in her dreams seemed to confirm that Pete still walked the earth.

"Find something good, mouse breath?" a familiar voice asked. Artemis turned his head back to see Hilda with her hand on her hip.

"What're you doing here, and how did you even get in?" Artemis demanded to know.

"B&E's a simple matter for me. As for why I'm here, I saw you leaving the studio lot in a hurry and got curious. So what'd you find out?"

"Earlier, Mina heard a story about the man who wrote the play that the movie is loosely based on."

"You mean the King in Yellow? What'd you find out about its author?"

"He was a mad genius called One-Eyed Pete. They say that after he finished writing the play, he shot himself in the head but didn't die. And this morning, Mina told me that Pete's been appearing in a recurring nightmare she'd been having."

At this, Hilda sighed. "Dammit. So the King's already gotten his hooks in her. Well, at least we've identified his herald. Of course I suspected it might've been the author of that damn play. He's probably the one behind the script for this movie too."

"It's about time you came clean Hilda. Just who is this enemy that we're up against?"

"Now that it's gotten this far, I can tell you this much. Our enemy is the King in Yellow."

"You mean the play?"

"I mean the creature that the play is about. Its real name is Hastur, and it's an entity so powerful that it's worshipped as a god by some of the most depraved people in the galaxy."

"And you think this Hastur is doing something to Mina?"

Hilda nodded. "If she's having dreams about Hastur's herald, this One-Eyed Pete, then she's dangerously close to falling under its influence."

"Then we have to do something!"

"Relax mouth breath. There's still a chance to save her. But whether or not we can depends a lot on the guy I have working for me right now."

* * *

The sun was already starting to set as Minako finally left the studio lot. Rather than going straight back to her hotel, the blonde had decided to do some walking around the city. Minako really needed to calm down and clear her head. She had been on edge ever since learning that One-Eyed Pete was more than just some figment of her own imagination that had been visiting her each night in her dreams. The fact that Pete had actually existed, and the possibility that he may not had actually died when he shot himself in the face, troubled Minako a great deal.

On top of that, Minako was also still greatly bothered by the little note and card that had been left on her doorstep that morning. No matter how she tried, she just could not forget about them. Every time she had opened that bag during the course of the day she would see the card and note again, reminding her of that great enemy from her past that had broken her heart. What disturbed her about the card though was that there was nobody who knew of its significance besides her and Artemis, except for Phantom Ace, but he was long dead. Minako was so wrapped in trying to figure out who could've sent the note and the card at that moment that she was totally unaware that someone was following her.

"Well 'ello there, li'l lady," a voice spoke. Minako turned around to see a short and somewhat portly man in his late forties with very short black hair, wearing a black leather jacket with a grease-stained grey shirt and tattered jeans. Walking a step behind him was a taller man in his mid-thirties with wild brown hair and crooked teeth wearing a similar outfit. "Kinda late to be out 'ere on your own, ain't it?"

"I'm just passing though," Minako told the men. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

"Hey now! Ain't no need to be so cold, missy," the portly man told Minako as he approached. "My name's Spike, and this 'ere's me mate, Nigel. As it so happens, you've just wandered into our gang's territory. And as such, I felt it my civic duty to give you a grand tour."

"Thanks, but I can find my way around just fine."

As Minako tried to leave, she saw three other hooligans dressed like Spike and Nigel advancing on her. Before she knew it, the five of them had managed to corner her against the wall of a building.

"Now, now. I told ya there ain't no need to be so cold an' rush off," Spike told her as he and his goons advanced on her. "It'd be an honor to show you around. And I know me mates and I can show you a real good time, ain't that right boys?"

Nigel and the other three hooligans laugh in agreement as the closed ranks around the blonde. Terror began to rise up within Minako, but more than that she was cursing herself for falling into such an easily avoidable trap.

"Leave her alone, you scum!" a familiar voice ordered. Spike and his gang looked to see Keisuke standing a few feet away with his arms crossed.

"Oi! This ain't none of your business, pretty boy! So slag off!" Spike ordered.

"Do not make me repeat myself," Keisuke told him as he took a fighting stance.

"Alright gents, time to teach this bloke some manner!" Spike commanded.

On cue, one of the hooligans charged straight at Keisuke with a knife. Keisuke easily sidestepped the attack and struck him with a well-placed chop to the back of the neck, knocking him out cold. Before the hooligan hit the ground, a second came at him from the side and swung at him with his own knife. Keisuke easily dodged each swing and finally struck him with a kick to the stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, the second hooligan fell to the ground.

The third hooligan meanwhile had circled around to come at Keisuke from behind. As soon as the punk came in striking range though, Keisuke swiftly turned around and delivered a hard kick to his crotch. The hooligan dropped his weapon and covered the area of impact with both hands, giving Keisuke an opening to deliver a powerful uppercut to his jaw and knock him out. With their little army taken out, Spike and Nigel ran away from the scene like frightened Chihuahuas scarred off by a hissing cat.

Keisuke then rushed over and grabbed Minako by the hand. "Come on!"

Keisuke had begun to lead Minako off in the direction of the hotel. After they had gotten a few blocks away though, Minako finally pulled her hand free.

"Thank you, but I can get there on my own," Minako spoke with irritation in her voice as she rubbed her hand. "Have you been following me ever since I left the studio?"

"I was worried about you," Keisuke told her.

"Well I don't need you to act as my bodyguard against the local punks. I could've taken out those guys just as easily myself."

"Of that I have no doubt, but I wasn't following you because I was worried you'd be molested by some gang. I was concerned because you haven't been yourself today, especially not since we heard the story about that mad playwright from Sir Ian. And after what just happened, I'm now more concerned than ever. Ordinarily you would never have let yourself be cornered like that so easily."

"I'm just having an off day, alright? Now leave me the hell alone and mind your own damn business!"

With that, Minako stormed off towards the hotel. Keisuke remained standing where he was for a few moments and sighed. It seems that in trying to protect the woman he realized he truly loved, he may have made things worse between them.

* * *

It was very late at night as Mason and Lyle stood together in One-Eyed Pete's decaying candlelit study. The undead playwright had asked them both to come and report on the progress of the movie. Mason had just finished informing him that the very last scene of the existing script had finally been completed.

"Very good, Mr. Hughes," Pete praised as he tossed a set of bound papers onto his desk. "Here are the remaining scenes of the script. "You are to begin filming the day after tomorrow. By then, the cast for our final scenes will have begun to assemble."

"If you don't mind me asking Maestro, how do you plan to get rid of Tenju?" Lyle asked as Mason thumbed through the new script pages.

"To take care of that task, I decided the most elegant way was to introduce a new character. I took the liberty of casting this character myself. His Majesty used his power to bring the actor to us this morning, and he's since sent his own personal greeting to our Cassilda."

"And just who is this new talent of yours?"

"That would be me," a voice spoke from the doorway. Lyle and Mason turned around, and walking into the candlelight of the room was a young-looking man with very fair skin and white hair. He was dressed in a black leather jacket with a white shirt, a pair of blue jeans and white sneakers. "Pleasure to meet you both. My name's Ace Saijyo."

"Mr. Saijyo has prior acting experience," Pete revealed. "Some years ago in Japan, he starred in a television show as a dashing hero known as Phantom Ace. He also has powers that rival those of our Mr. Tenju, or rather General Kunzite as he was once known."

"With all due respect Maestro, I'm now far more powerful Kunzite. Not only has His Majesty granted me even greater strength; Kunzite has since grown much weaker than he once was. Removing him from the picture should be no problem."

"I understand that you also had romantic feelings for our Cassilda. I trust those feelings will not get in the way of your performance."

"Not to worry," Ace declared as he pulled out a deck of playing cards from his pocket, shuffled them and drew the Ace of Hearts. "I long ago accepted that Venus would never be mine. But if I can't have her, I'm going to see to it that no one else can either. No on that is, except for the King."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, especially the little twist at the end. Incidentally, Keisuke's fight against that gang of hooligans was originally going to be another monster battle, but I felt that such a battle would've been unnecessary. I hope it was an enjoyable scene nonetheless though.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	7. Ace and King

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (nor do I own _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 7: Ace and King

It was fairly early in the morning as Minako made her way back onto the studio lot, heading straight for Mason's office. Not long after she had gotten out of bed, Minako had gotten a call from Mason saying that new pages for the movie's script had finally been completed. Of course Minako now knew very well that the movie was definitely an enemy trap, and that she had apparently fallen straight into it. The night before, Artemis had told Minako everything he learned from Hilda about the King in Yellow, or rather Hastur, and that the entity was somehow using the movie and her dreams to come after her. Yet even though the movie was part of the enemy's trap, and that continuing with its production would only be playing into its hands, Minako felt that the only way to put a stop to everything was to push on and strike at this enemy when it finally revealed itself.

When Minako arrived at the door to Mason's office, she encountered Keisuke and paused. Things were still more than a little awkward between them, and Minako was still a bit mad at Keisuke for following her the previous night. Though she had to admit that she was more than a little moved at the way Keisuke protected her, but the fact that he had even followed her because he thought she couldn't protect herself had been an insult to her as a warrior.

"Um, good morning," Keisuke spoke. "Look, about last night…"

"Save it," Minako told him. "I am grateful to you for looking out for me like that, really. But I'm not some defenseless little girl that you need to watch over."

"I know that very well, and I'm sorry for how I offended you. Still, I think I was justified in following you the way I did. You're not at all yourself, Minako. For the past few days you've seemed exhausted. In fact right now you look almost as pale as a corpse. And it seems like your mind has been light years away since yesterday. What's going on with you?"

Minako sighed. "I'm totally fine, okay? I've just had a little trouble sleeping lately. No big deal."

Keisuke looked at Minako as though he didn't believe her, and her claim about being fine was indeed a lie. Even so, Minako didn't want him to worry about her, especially since there was nothing he could do to put an end to her nightmares. The only way to do that was to find this King in Yellow and defeat him.

"We had better get into the office," Minako told him. "Mason's waiting for us."

Keisuke backed down and the two of them went into the office. Mason was sitting behind his deck with Lyle standing next to his chair.

"Ah! Our two stars have arrived," Mason spoke with a big smile. "Thank you for being so prompt. Please, have a seat."

"So you said this morning that the script for this movie has finally been finished?" Minako asked as he and Keisuke sat down.

"Indeed it has. Well, mostly. We still don't have an ending, but our Maestro assures us that it will be done shortly. In the meantime, go ahead and take a quick look through the new pages."

Minako and Keisuke both took the bundles of pages for them on Mason's desk and skimmed through them. One thing they both noticed right away was that Keisuke's character was to be killed off at the end of the first new scene.

"So, it seems that my role in this movie is nearly at an end," Keisuke observed.

"Sorry about that kid, but that's how it has to be," Lyle told him. "This is a tragedy we're shooting, after all."

"It says that Keisuke will be losing to some envoy for the King in Yellow," Minako noted. "Who'll be playing him?"

"We've already found the perfect actor to be playing the role of our envoy, Lucifer," Mason informed them. "In fact Ms. Aino, it seems that he's an old acquaintance of yours."

At that moment there was a knock at the door. It opened up, and walking in was a handsome white-haired young man that Minako was all too familiar with. The mere sight of him caused what little color there still was in her face to drain away. Keisuke noticed Minako's reaction and raised an eyebrow.

"Ms. Aino, I believe you're already acquainted with the newest member of your cast, Ace Saijyo," Mason spoke.

"It's been too long Minako," Ace spoke. "Glad to see you're doing well."

"Just how is it you and Minako know each other?" Keisuke asked.

"She and I were in another movie together some years ago, but it was never finished because of… production issues. You must be Keisuke Tenju. I understand you and I will be working together in the next scene. Hope you don't take me having to kill you off too hard."

"I'm giving you all the next day off to look over and rehearse the new scenes," Mason informed the three. "We'll begin shooting first thing tomorrow morning. That is all."

With that, Ace smiled at Minako and gave her a little salute before leaving the office. A second after Ace left, Minako rose from her chair and walked out of the office almost mechanically, a look of stark terror still on her face. Keisuke quickly followed Minako out to see what was wrong. He soon found her a few feet away from Mason's office, clutching the wall of a nearby building as she tried to catch her breath.

"Minako!" Keisuke called as he caught up to her. "What's wrong?"

"Mina!" a familiar voice called, breaking Minako from her panicked thoughts. She and Keisuke both saw Artemis dashing up to them. "Are you all right? You look you've seen a ghost."

"I just did," Minako told him as her breathing finally calmed down. "Artemis… Phantom Ace is back!"

"What? That's impossible! He's been dead for years!"

"Are you both talking about Ace Saijyo?" Keisuke asked. "Who is he?"

"There's no need to play dumb you know!" Artemis told him. "Phantom Ace was a high-ranking soldier of the Dark Kingdom. He ran an organization for the kingdom that operated in Japan and China called the Dark Agency. Mina fought this group back when she started out as Sailor V. But as a general of the Dark Kingdom, I'm sure you knew all about this."

Keisuke sighed. "I do recall the agency you speak of. It was established to help gather life energy from humans in that part of the world, and that it was eliminated, forcing us generals to become personally involved with operations in that region. But I knew nothing of the soldiers running the Dark Agency. Since that organization was based in the east, they would've been under Jadeite's supervision, so I knew nothing specific about their operations."

Artemis glared at Keisuke straight in the eye. "You honestly expect us to believe that you know nothing about Ace?"

"Believe me, I don't. But… as someone who was involved with the Dark Kingdom, I apologize for any of the pain this man may have put you both through, especially to you Minako."

"Thanks," Minako responded with a small smile. "And I do believe you knew nothing about Ace."

"Was he a formidable enemy?"

"He was. I had a difficult time taking him down, but not because he was especially powerful. It's because he was… my first love. Or rather my first love in this life anyway."

"More like your five-thousandth first love," Artemis mumbled, causing Minako to shoot a quick glare down at him.

"Anyway, it turned out Ace was someone from our past lives," Minako continued. "In fact he was a soldier from Venus. But when he was reborn in this world, he joined the Dark Kingdom. He did have feelings for me though… back in our old lives I mean."

"I can understand that. You do have a way of bewitching men's hearts."

"That battle with Ace was the battle where I finally regained my memories from that life, or most of them anyway. It was also a hard battle because I did care about Ace, but I realized that he wasn't my true love. In fact… that battle pretty much helped me get my priorities straight."

"You mean that battle gave you the notion that true love wasn't meant for you? What exactly happened during that fight to make you think that?"

Minako shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What matters now though is that we need to be extra careful, especially you. Ace has to have been brought back by this King in Yellow we're up against, and his character is supposed to kill you off in the movie's next scene."

"In other words he won't be playacting. Well rest assured; I will not go down so easily. If Ace truly intends to kill me, then I will have no choice but to go off script and finish him first."

At that moment, Minako was overcome with a sense of worry for Keisuke's safety. Before she could stop herself, Minako gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Just be careful tomorrow."

With that, Minako walked off towards the gate to her hotel. Artemis glared at Keisuke one last time before dashing off after her. Keisuke was left standing frozen where he was, his cheeks having turned a slight red.

"She's quite the woman, isn't she?" a voice asked. Keisuke turned around to see Ace standing before him with a cocky grin.

"How long have you been standing there?" Keisuke asked as he turned to face him.

"I only just got out here. You know General, you and I have quite a bit in common."

"You mean that we were both once subjects of the Dark Kingdom?"

"Well that, yeah. But I was talking about how we've both fallen for them same woman. I can't blame you. She is a goddess."

"Just what are your intentions towards Minako? Do you plan to try and take her for yourself?"

Ace chuckled and shook his head. "No, no. There's something you need to understand, General. Minako is out of reach for both of us. As much as we both love her, neither of us has a chance of ever being with her. My duty here is to deliver her to my new master, the only being in the galaxy, perhaps the whole universe who is able to possess her."

"I assume you mean this King in Yellow. He's the one who brought you back from the dead."

"His Majesty is both powerful and wise. He looked back into the past and learned about my connection to Minako, and realized that I could bring her to him easily, and that I could easily eliminate the one little obstacle in his plans, you."

"From what little Minako told me of your past, you'll find that I'm more than a match for a lowly warrior like you."

"We shall see. I do have to wonder though, while it was His Majesty who brought me back from the grave, who was it who brought you back?"

"That would be me," a voice cut in. Keisuke looked to see Hilda walking onto the scene. "This is certainly an unexpected move on the King's part, bringing back a fallen warrior to act as a champion just as I did."

"Well whoever you are, you chose poorly."

"I wouldn't be so sure. My guy may be a bit of a screw-up, but he's a worthier champion than you are, and far more worthy of that woman's heart."

"We shall see tomorrow when we have our battle. For now though, I'll leave you to prepare. Until we meet on the battlefield, general."

With that, Ace walked off towards the gate. Keisuke thought for a moment about following him before Ace suddenly vanished with a flash of white light.

"Well, this is kind of a pain," Hilda declared as she put her hands on her hips.

"I'd like to know what happened between Minako and that man all those years ago. What did he do to her that made her think true love couldn't be hers?"

"That guy seems like the possessive type. He probably figured that if he couldn't have Minako, nobody else could. So he planted some idea in her head that she couldn't be happy with anyone else but him. Even with the memories of her former life awakened, she was probably still young and pretty naïve back then, just foolish enough maybe to buy a lie like that."

"Well if you're right, I'm going to prove him wrong," Keisuke declared, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "Minako deserves true love, and I'm going to make her see that. Even if that love ends up being with someone other than me."

* * *

 _Minako was back once again at the masquerade ball in full costume. As she looked around, it seemed like there were even more guests than before, and all of them seemed more decayed than the first time she had arrived at that wretched party._

 _"Surprised that so many people have turned out for you, Princess?" an all too familiar voice spoke from behind. Minako turned around to see One-Eyed Pete looking at her with his usual oversized bestial smile. "This is a big night after all. It's not every day that the King takes a new bride."_

 _"I know what you are now," Minako told him. "And I don't know what sort of game you're playing, but it's not going to work on me. I'm going beat both you and this king of yours."_

 _At this, Pete chuckled. "My, how spirited you are. You are indeed a fitting bride for His Majesty. However, I think you will find that no matter how hard you struggle, you cannot oppose the will of the King."_

 _Suddenly the large doors in the ballroom opened and a thick mist poured out from the doorway, covering the floor. The mark on Minako's arm had started to burn like it was on fire. Minako knew instantly that something was wrong, and not just because of the pain in her arm. More time in the dream usually passed before the door would open. This was usually the point where she woke up, but not this time. This dream was clearly different._

 _Minako was frozen in place as she watched something emerge from the mist pouring out of the door. In a few moments a humanoid figure emerged into full view. His whole body was clad in tarnished silver armor, and painted on the front of his chest was a yellow glyph like the now throbbing burn mark on Minako's arm. A tattered yellow mantle hung from his back, and a yellow hood covered most of his head. He wore a thorny black crown atop his head over the hood, and covering the figure's face was pallid mask made to look like a smiling handsome male face._

 _The figure that Minako quickly deduced to be the King in Yellow walked down the steps from the doorway in a mechanical fashion like some sort of marionette, as if it didn't quite know how to move like an actual human. Minako didn't know how, but she knew on some instinctual level that what she was seeing was not the King's true form, that what she was seeing was merely an elaborate costume. Its true form was some non-humanoid creature crammed into a human-shaped shell, and Minako did not want to see what its true form looked like._

 _"Tell me something, Princess," Pete spoke as he came close. "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"_

 _The guests had spread out away from Minako as the King stopped a few feet away from where she was standing. The armored figure's right arm jerked up to point at Minako and it held out its hand to her. Suddenly Minako began to walk towards the King, her legs moving of their own will._

 _"Let the dance begin!" Pete called._

 _Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of strange music being played by an organ somehow. As soon as the music started the other guests had begun a sort of waltz. Minako and the King had soon joined the waltz as well, her body moving on autopilot as the King led. The King was not at all a graceful dancer. His movements were jerky and mechanical; at times he even stepped on her feet. It was clear that whatever was in that suit of armor did not actually have two legs._

 _As the dance continued though, Minako couldn't help but stare into the King's eyes. Behind that pale mask's eyeholes were what appeared to be burning black stars. They were stars that were the total opposite of light, a darkness blacker than anything that Minako had seen before. It was not a gentle darkness like the kind produced by Kunzite's power, but a darkness that was of the void, a total absence of life. And while normal stars burned hot, these stars were cold._

 _At long last the music ended, and Minako was finally able to pull away from the King. Being so close to such a strange an unnatural entity made her want to literally crawl out of her skin._

 _"The dance is over!" Pete declared. "And now… unmask!"_

 _All of the guests began to cackle as they removed their masks. Some of them went so far as to also peel off the desiccated skin of their faces to also reveal their yellowed skulls. Minako removed her own mask as well, though it was because her arm was moving of its own accord. There was a pause and all eyes in the room fell on Minako and the King._

 _The King began to chuckle and spoke in a chorus of inhuman croaking voices, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."_

 _Slowly the King's hand began to reach up towards his face, and Minako was totally frozen in terror. She didn't want to see what sort of face the King actually had, for it had to be a face a million times more hideous than any monster she and her friends had faced in the past. Seeing a face like that would mean the end of all light and goodness in the world, a sort of innocence forever lost. Minako wanted to flee but her body was totally frozen in place. Then the King started to pull off his mask._

Minako shot up in bed, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her nightshirt was totally drenched in a cold sweat. Artemis had instantly woken up and dashed onto her lap. He called her name several times but the blond just kept on screaming.

As a last resort, Artemis slashed Minako in the face with his claws, bringing her screams to a stop. "Mina! Snap out of it! You're okay!"

Slowly Minako began to realize she was back in her hotel room. It was only another nightmare, but something told her that the nightmare would become real soon enough. Her eyes still wide with terror, Minako trembled as she pulled Artemis close.

"I can't take it, Art. I can't have that dream again," Minako whispered. "I can't have that dream again, because if I do… I'll be right back at that ball and I'll see the King remove that mask of his. And I know that if I ever see whatever's behind that mask… I'll go totally insane."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter, brief as it was. I confess, I do feel like I could've done a better job with the dream sequence at the end. It feels... I don't know, sort of like it's missing something. Anyway, next time we have the showdown between Keisuke and Ace, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	8. The Unworthy Knight

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 8: The Unworthy Knight

It was fairly in the morning as both Minako and Keisuke arrived at the field behind studio lot, and already the film crew was setting up for the next scene. When they arrived, Ace was sitting in a canvas chair going over his copy of the script, though Keisuke felt certain that the former idol star was going to be making some serious departures from what was written on the page. The fight that he and Ace were about to have was going to be a real one, and it was going to be to the death. Meanwhile, Minako was off in another world since before stepping onto the lot. Her nightmare from the previous night had disturbed her deeply, so much so that Artemis felt that he should go with Minako to keep an eye on her.

"Keisuke!" Artemis quietly called. "I need to speak with you!"

Keisuke went over to the metal trash barrel that Artemis was standing behind in order to avoid anyone see him talk. "What is it, feline?"

"Look, the fact is I don't like you, and I still don't trust you a bit. But the fact is I may need your help. Mina's in a pretty bad place right now."

"Why? What's happened?" Keisuke asked, kneeling down so Artemis could whisper.

"Almost ever since the filming for this movie started, Mina's been having nightmares about the King in Yellow. The one from last night was so bad that it's shaken her to the core. I've never seen her this frightened before."

Keisuke peeked around the barrel and noticed that Minako looked totally on edge and as pale as a ghost. It hurt him to see the most beautiful and confident woman he knew reduced to the state of a frightened child.

"These nightmares she's been having… they're some form of attack, aren't they?"

Artemis nodded. "I'm not sure, but it seems like the King himself has been using these dreams to contact Minako and weaken her. I don't think she's in any state to fight right now. I hate to say it, but I need you to help protect her."

"And I will with every last ounce of strength," Keisuke declared as he rose back to his feet. He then looked back in Ace's direction. "But first I have another enemy to deal with."

"Alright everyone! Place please!" Mason called from his director's chair.

Both Keisuke and Minako to their places on the field for the start of the scene. Ace soon after approached them, flashing Minako a roguish smile. The former idol's costume consisted of long brown pants, black boots, and a white long-sleeved shirt over which he wore a black tunic. On the front of his tunic was a yellow glyph exactly like the burn mark on Minako's arm.

"Alright, I'm sure you all know what's to happen in this scene," Mason told the three actors. "This is the part where Altair challenges Lucifer, the envoy of Carcosa to a duel in order to prevent the marriage between Cassilda and the King. And… action!"

"The time of your final destiny has arrived, Princess," Ace spoke as the camera's started rolling. "Now come with me. Dallying here will only prolong your own suffering. I understand that this is a sad event to be leaving the land you love, but it will only be sadder the longer you stay."

"You're not taking the princess anywhere!" Keisuke declared as he held an arm in front of Minako. "I do not care if it would mean war with Carcosa! Better for there to be a war than for her to suffer a life married to that foul beast! If you want to take Cassilda to him, then you will have to step over my dead body to do so!"

Ace chuckled. "That can easily be arranged, Altair. We'll duel to decide Cassilda's fate. If you win, you can take her for yourself. But if I win, then to Carcosa she goes. And of course you won't be able to protest since you'll be dead."

"Fine with me."

"Then let us begin!" Ace declared as he clutched the front of his tunic.

Suddenly Ace became enveloped by a tornado of playing cards that suddenly rose up from the ground around his feet. In moments the cards blew away to reveal Ace in a new form. A white mask covered the top half of his face, and on his forehead was a yellow mark like the glyph that had been on his tunic. He had on a white military style uniform with black trip, along with a white pair of gloves. On the chest of Ace's shirt over his heart was black spade with the Yellow Sign in the center.

In an instant, Keisuke became enveloped in a pillar of black energy and transformed into Kunzite, drawing his sword the moment the energy around him faded. "I knew this wasn't going to be a pretend battle!"

"Should we stop filming?" the cameraman asked Mason.

"It's fine. Keep going," Mason told him, not taking his eyes off the scene.

With a flick of his fingers, the playing card for the Ace of Spades appeared in Ace's right hand. Then with a puff of white smoke, the card turned into a sword with a gold guard in the shape of a spade. Kunzite charged right at Ace and swung his blade down towards the masked man's shoulder. Ace easily parried the blow and slashed back, only for Kunzite to quickly counter. As the two of them began trading blows, Kunzite started to force Ace back.

"You're certainly coming at me hard," Ace remarked with a confident smirk as Kunzite continued to force him back. "Almost as if you're in a hurry to finish me."

"I have bigger enemies to deal with than the likes of you!" Kunzite declared as he tried to stab Ace in the stomach.

Ace quickly jumped back and avoided the thrust of Kunzite's sword. He then dashed around to Kunzite's right and suddenly threw out five playing cards that he produced from his sleeve. "Deadly Five-Card Straight!"

All five cards suddenly ignited with puffs of white smoke and turned into swords as they flew through the air. Though surprised, Kunzite managed to knock all five weapons with his own sword. Right after doing so, Ace came straight at him with his sword aimed right at Kunzite's chest. Kunzite managed to block the attack at the last second, but suddenly he was the one being forced back as Ace started a brutal assault.

"What a joke you are!" Ace declared as he continued to strike at Kunzite. "And to think that a former general of the Dark Kingdom could've grown so weak! You're far less worthier of Minako's heart than I am!"

"Perhaps, but I will not let you or this king you serve have her!"

Ace chuckled. "Oh, but His Majesty has already claimed her! One of his servants has already branded her with the Yellow Sign! The very same mark that is upon my brow! From what I was told, Minako's mark should be on her arm."

Here the fight paused, and Kunzite suddenly remembered the incident with the larva monster, and how its acid attack had burned Minako's arm. Kunzite thought that Minako had recovered, but now it occurred to him that the attack might've had some lasting effect. Perhaps whatever scar the attack left was the reason why Minako was being plagued by nightmares.

"If you were truly worthy of Minako's heart, you wouldn't have let her be branded," Ace continued.

"I didn't expect that attack to be anything serious. But if I made an error, than I will correct it by killing both you and your precious King! I will not let her fall into your hands!"

At this, Ace burst out laughing. "That's funny coming from you. You consider yourself to be Minako's protector, but the fact is you're one of the worst men to ever come into her life. All you do is cause her and her friend to suffer! Perhaps I need to remind you of how you failed her so badly in your first life!"

Kunzite ignored Ace and began to charge towards him. The silver-haired night had only gotten a couple steps though when Ace suddenly touched the side of his mask and fired two beams of yellow light from his mask's eyes. The beams struck Kunzite in the face, and his vision went totally white as his mind was pulled back into the past.

* * *

 _Once more Kunzite was back in the time of the Silver Millennium. It was only weeks after Venus had rejected him during their visit to his kingdom. In that short time, tension had flared up all over the planet, largely because of the monster attacks that had been happening. Things had taken a surprising turn when people began to blame the Moon Kingdom for the attacks. The accusers were claiming that what was causing people to turn into the rampaging carnivorous monsters Kunzite and Venus had been fighting was some new experimental weapon that the Moon Kingdom was testing out._

 _The first to make this accusation was the princess of a small kingdom named Beryl. Kunzite had been familiar with the princess due to the king and queen having once tried getting Endymion to marry Beryl, but of course Endymion had not been at all interested in her. While Kunzite didn't know what proof Beryl had that the Moon Kingdom was behind the monster attacks, it was clear that people were taking her seriously. Beryl's supporters had been growing by the day, and there was even talk that Earth might go to war with the people of the Moon. At that moment, Kunzite was in his office with his fellow Shitennou, Nephrite, Jadeite and Zoisite to discuss what to do._

 _Jadeite and Zoisite were both sitting in the chairs in front of Kunzite's large desk, while Nephrite was leaning against his usual spot on the office wall with his arms crossed. The other three Shitennou had been reporting the most recent developments with the anti-Moon movement, but Kunzite had been finding it hard to listen. His thoughts kept going back to Venus. Kunzite hadn't seen the blond ever since the end of their failed date at his family castle. He wished very much that Venus would return, not so much for his own sake, but so she could help to perhaps dispel or at least make sense of this madness that had befallen his people._

 _"To be honest, I don't think the question is how we stop a war with the Moon Kingdom," Zoisite spoke thoughtfully. "The real question it, should we go to war with them? And honestly, I think perhaps we should."_

 _Zoisite's comment caused Nephrite to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Surly you can't be serious! For these last few months we've been working side by side with the members of Princess Serenity's royal guard, and now you're suddenly saying that they're our enemies?"_

 _"I'm simply saying that we've perhaps been a little too trusting of them. I will admit that I've found some of Sailor Mercury's recent actions to be a bit suspicious."_

 _"In what way?" Kunzite asked._

 _"Well for instance… one time I came back to my office to find Mercury looking through my private files. As you know, my files contain details for key strategic instillations all over the kingdom. Additionally, I looked into Mercury's more recent examinations on our kingdom's central library. She was looking into all the material we had on human anatomy. That's just the type of information the Moon Kingdom might need for a biological weapon that turns humans into monsters."_

 _"But you have no proof that's why Mercury was looking into that information?"_

 _Zoisite shook his head. "I don't, but I do believe that it's reason enough to at least be suspicious of the Moon Kingdom. Plus, you have to admit that Princess Beryl makes some compelling arguments."_

 _"I don't believe this!" Nephrite protested. "Zoisite, I don't know what kind of experiences you've had working with Mercury, but Sailor Jupiter and I have fought alongside one another against those things that our people have been turning into, and she's been even more appalled that we've had to kill innocent civilians than I have been! Kunzite, you've had the same experiences with Sailor Venus, have you not?"_

 _Kunzite tented his hands on his desk and nodded. "I have. And I do find it very difficult to believe that she and her people could be behind whatever's creating these monsters. I also have difficulty believing these claims of Princess Beryl that the Moon Kingdom has been spying on us, or even that they think they're superior to us."_

 _"I don't," Jadeite interjected. "From the way that Sailor Mars has tended to act around me, she definitely thinks superior. More than once she's called me a savage barbarian."_

 _"Maybe you just have a talent for getting on her bad side," Nephrite argued. "That mouth of yours has gotten you into trouble with the ladies more than once."_

 _"Kunzite, you must admit that recent negotiations with the Moon Kingdom have been a little strained as of late," Zoisite interjected as he rose from his chair. "Plus you're all overlooking one simple fact. Technologically, the Moon Kingdom is far superior than we are. It's unfortunately not uncommon for a people to think of those not as advanced as they are as inferior. The rulers of the Moon Kingdom seem to view themselves as the divinely appointed protectors of our world, and thus likely think we're incapable of taking care of ourselves."_

 _"That's why they probably spy on us and think they can tell our rulers what we can and can't do," Jadeite added. "Just as Princess Beryl says."_

 _Kunzite let out a heavy sigh. "What do you think we should do?"_

 _"For now, I say we cut ties with the Moon Kingdom," Zoisite recommended. "At least until we can truly determine whether or not they're our enemy."_

 _"I agree with Zoicite. Until we can figure out we can't trust them, we shouldn't let them near us," Jadeite declared._

 _"You two do realize what that would mean though. It would mean that our prince would have to end his little fling with Princess Serenity," Nephrite pointed out._

 _"That relationship had been doomed from the start," Zoisite pointed out. "Even if none of this had happened, a marriage between our Prince and Princess Serenity would never have been allowed."_

 _At last, Kunzite reached a decision and rose from his chair. "Until we truly determine whether or not the Moon Kingdom is actually an enemy, we should cut all ties with them. Come, let's go tell the Prince."_

 _With that, the four of them left Kunzite's office. A few minutes later they found Endymion in the palace garden. The prince noticed the serious expression on each of their faces as they approached._

 _"Kunzite, everyone, what's wrong?" Endymion asked._

 _"My prince… I'm afraid we can no longer permit you to see Princess Serenity," Kunzite spoke._

 _Endymion's expression became just as serious as that of his guards, but the fire of anger burned in his eyes. "And just what is the meaning behind this decision."_

 _"Prince, the fact is the Moon Kingdom now seems to be an enemy," Zoisite explained as he stepped forward. "If that is truly the case, then it would clearly be inappropriate for you and Princess Serenity to keep seeing each other."_

 _"And just what evidence do you have that the Moon Kingdom is our enemy?"_

 _"Sire, it's totally obvious that the Moon Kingdom see us as lower than dogs!" Jadeite cut in. "We're tired of them ordering us around and spying on us!"_

 _"And since when have you been ordered around and spied upon?" Endymion asked forcefully, causing all the Shitennou to flinch. "Just whose words are you speaking? Yours, or that repugnant creature's?"_

 _None of them could bring themselves to respond. It was clear that Endymion wasn't going to listen anything based on Beryl's accusations about the Moon Kingdom, and they all felt a bit foolish for even brining it up._

 _Endymion turned away from the four and composed himself. "I will not be swayed by Beryl's fear-mongering, and I'm greatly disappointed that the four of you were. I will keep seeing Serenity despite anyone's objectives. If the four of you still have a problem with that, then you're all free to resign as my protectors."_

 _With that, Endymion marched away back into the palace. The four guards remained rooted where they were, feeling rather ashamed of themselves._

 _"Well that went beautifully," Nephrite sarcastically declared. "I'm so glad I went along with all of you on this."_

 _"Clearly we underestimated how badly the Prince would react to our decision," Zoisite observed._

 _Kunzite sighed and nodded. "I myself once said that it would be impossible for us to keep the Prince from seeing Princess Serenity."_

 _"So what do we do now?" Jadeite asked._

 _"I don't know about the rest of you, but I need some time alone to think," Kunzite decided as he began to walk away. "I'm going to my homeland and shall be back by morning. Keep an eye on things while I'm gone."_

 _The sun had almost entirely set as Kunzite set out on his horse. In the hours it took him to traverse the sea of desert sand between the palace and his homeland, his thoughts were swirling with the question of whether or not the Moon Kingdom was to be trusted. He thought repeatedly of what was said during the meeting with his fellow Shitennou and his confrontation with Endymion. Kunzite still believed that Zoisite had made some very good points during the meeting, points that simply couldn't be dismissed. Yet Endymion in his own way had made a very compelling point too, that their suspicions about the Moon were based on the fear mongering of Princess Beryl._

 _Kunzite went over the arguments again and again in his head as he rode, and each time he did he kept going back to one thing, his relationship with Sailor Venus. The two of them had fought together side-by-side so much that Kunzite felt as though he truly knew the captain of Princess Serenity's guard, and because of this Kunzite felt sure that neither she nor anyone from her kingdom could be up to anything that would hurt his people. Plus the fact was that even though she had rejected him, he still loved her. Yet at the same time, there was still some doubt in his mind based on what Zoisite had said during the meeting. Kunzite wished very much that Venus would finally return so she could help him make sense of all this madness._

 _It was the dead of night as Kunzite finally came in sight of his homeland, and what he saw pulling him from his internal debate completely. The obsidian city of his people was completely ablaze. The flames consuming the place were so bright that they turned it into a demonic beacon that lit the night sky. Kunzite drove his horse to go at top speed towards the burning city. At that moment all he could do was think about what might've happened to his parents and the rest of his people._

 _In another few minutes Kunzite had come to the city's main gate to see a man run out screaming with his arms and back on fire. A second later a green-skinned monster leapt from the gate and tackled the man to the ground, taking a large bite out of his neck. Kunzite knew that it was too late to save the man, but hopefully not too late to save everyone else, or at least those he cared about most. Kunzite rode on left the monster to its horrific meal. Inside the walls of the city Kunzite found nothing but sheer pandemonium, with people fleeing in terror either because of the flames or because another monster was trying to chase them down._

 _Kunzite rode his steed straight for his family's palace. If he was going to try and save his homeland, the best place to do it was from there. As Kunzite pressed on, he saw more people fleeing in terror, and soldiers trying to fight off the monsters only to be cut down. Every now and then one of the horrid beasts would try and come at him, forcing him to cut and beat them off with the blade of his sword. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time Kunzite reached the front gate of the palace._

 _After finding a seemingly safe place to park his horse, Kunzite rushed into the building and headed straight for the throne room. Within a few minutes he made it to the room only to find it a shambles. Tapestries had been torn from the walls and the bodies of dead soldiers were on the ground, blood pooling around them from the massive bite wounds on their neck. One of the bodies was of a young guard Kunzite had known ever since he had first started training as a soldier, and he discovered with a mixture of horror and disgust that half of the man's face had been ripped off. It was an ugly scene, and what troubled Kunzite most was that there was no sign anywhere of his parents._

 _"Quite the sight, isn't it?" an all too familiar voice spoke. Kunzite looked up to see the back of an instantly recognizable blond with a red bow in her hair facing one of the room's large windows, her hands folded behind her back. "Your city is even more beautiful now that it's on fire."_

 _"Venus… is that you?" Kunzite asked with a look of disbelief._

 _Venus turned her head back to look at Kunzite. Her eyes were totally cold and her lips were turned in a cruel smile. Kunzite found it impossible to believe that this was the same woman he had been fighting alongside for so long now._

 _"What… what are you doing here?" Kunzite asked as he managed to compose himself a bit._

 _"What does it look like?" Venus responded as she turned all the way around to face him. "I'm here to oversee the extermination of this little colony of yours."_

 _"Then… then it's true? All this time… your people have been behind these monster incidents?"_

 _"You Earthlings have started to become more trouble than you're worth. Therefore my superiors have decided that your numbers need to be reduced a bit to keep you all from getting too out of hand."_

 _Kunzite raised his sword against her. "I will not let you get away with this!"_

 _Venus chuckled. "As if you could do anything to stop me."_

 _With a snap of the blonde's fingers, two monsters suddenly burst into the room from another door. They both charged at Kunzite with their fangs bared. Kunzite slashed the first one deeply across the chest, killing it. He then quickly stabbed the other beast straight through the heart. Both of the creatures fell to the ground dead and reverted back to their original human forms, and the sight filled Kunzite with horror. The bodies of the people that had once been the monsters that had attacked him were the bodies of his parents._

 _"Oh dear. Guess I should said something about who my two servants were before you killed them," Venus spoke, still with a cruel smile on her face. "Ah well. Two dead Earthlings are far better than one."_

 _Venus began to let out a cold cruel laugh, the sound of which filled Kunzite with utter rage. It had all become crystal clear to him now. The Sailor Venus he knew was nothing more than a façade. This was the blonde's true face. In his anger, Kunzite cried out and charged towards Venus with his sword aimed right at her heart. Venus merely pointed a finger at him and fired a beam of red light that hit him in the center of the chest. The attack knocked Kunzite onto his back and had burned a hole through his shirt._

 _Kunzite felt certain that the attack had not damaged any organs, but he was still in a great deal of pain. It was so bad that he was unable to get back up._

 _"I think I'll spare your life, since I like seeing you so defeated like this," Venus decided as she began to turn back towards the window. "I must be going. There are still so many Earthlings to exterminate and so little time to get rid of them."_

 _With that, Venus jumped into the air through the window and vanished with a flash of crimson light. Kunzite reached for her as vanished, but of course he had been unable to stop her. A split second after Venus disappeared, he blacked out._

* * *

 _Kunzite awoke some time later to find the throne room was still a shambles. The pain from the wound Venus had inflicted on him had lessened quite a bit. As Kunzite sat up, he suddenly recalled everything from his earlier confrontation with Venus, including how she had craftily maneuvered him into killing his own parents. Kunzite looked around and found the bodies of his slain mother and father still on the floor. He managed to get to his feet and staggered over to where his mother lay. Then getting back down on both knees, Kunzite took his mother's hand as tears started to stream down his cheeks._

 _"General Kunzite," a soft female voice spoke._

 _Kunzite looked up, and standing over him and his mother's body was a woman with long wavy red hair and red eyes, wearing a black cloak and a long black dress. Her skin was incredibly pale and her ears seemed to have a slight point to them. Kunzite recognized who the woman was in an instant._

 _"Princess Beryl," Kunzite spoke. "What're you doing here?"_

 _"I heard about the attack on your homeland hours ago and came personally with a small army of troops to assist," Beryl explained. "It seems we have come far too late though."_

 _"Is anyone in this city… left alive?"_

 _Beryl sadly shook her head. "I'm deeply sorry. By the time my men and I arrived, everyone we found was dead. They're still busy trying to put out the fires and slay any monsters that still might be lurking around. General, might you be able to tell us what happened here?"_

 _"It was Sailor Venus! She had come to oversee the destruction of the city. You were right about the Moon Kingdom, Princess. These monsters we've been fighting are their doing. Venus claimed that our people had become more trouble than we're worth. I never imagined I could be so utterly wrong about anyone."_

 _Beryl knelt down and put a hand on Kunzite's shoulder. "I am deeply sorry for your loss, brave general. But if you join with me, together we can make the Moon Kingdom pay for everything they've done this night."_

 _Kunzite chuckled darkly. "As if I could be of any help to you in such a fight. The events of this night showed me that I'm completely powerless against Sailor Venus and her kind."_

 _"That can easily be changed," Beryl told him as she reached into a pocket on the inside of her cloak. Inside the pocket was a test tube of some sort of black liquid, which she presented to Kunzite. "This potion I devised will give you incredible power, enough power to crush Sailor Venus into dust under your heel. Drink it, and you shall have a power that you've never known."_

 _After a few moments of hesitation, Kunzite took the vial of black liquid from her and uncorked it. He drank the foul-tasting liquid down in one gulp, and a split second later his body was wracked by incredible pain. The wound he had sustained to his chest has healed in an instant, but at the same time he suddenly felt completely wrong, like he was no longer human anymore. Suddenly his earlier confrontation with Venus replayed before his eyes, but with Beryl in the blonde's place. It was in that moment that Kunzite realized what had really happened, Beryl had taken Venus's form, and it had been Beryl who had unleashed the monsters on his homeland._

 _Kunzite rose back to his feet and glared at Beryl. "You witch! You deceived me! You tricked me into killing my own parents and into thinking that a woman I deeply trusted was an enemy!"_

 _"That I did," Beryl admitted with a triumphant grin. "But it's far too late for you to do anything about it now. From the moment you drank that potion you became mine. Everything that you are, your body, your heart and your will, all belong to me."_

 _Beryl snapped her fingers and suddenly an intense pain shot throughout Kunzite's whole body. In less than a second he had totally forgotten about everything he had discovered at Beryl._

 _"You are now a general of my Dark Kingdom!" Beryl declared as the pain in Kunzite's body started to subside. "And my first command to you is that you will help me lead an assault against the Moon Kingdom!"_

 _The pain that had overtaken Kunzite totally subsided and he fell into what was almost a trance. "As you command, Queen Beryl. I am your devoted servant."_

* * *

 _A short time later the other three members of the Shitennou had also fallen under Beryl's control, and soon after the five led a massive army to the Moon where they began a siege of the kingdom. Some time shortly before this attack Venus and her fellow guardians had taken both Serenity and Endymion back to the Moon Kingdom's palace in an attempt to keep them both safe. Venus had decided to protect Endymion not just for Serenity's sake, but also for the hope that he might somehow be able to bring sanity back to his people and end Beryl's reign of terror._

 _Everything that happened when the attack on the kingdom began all seemed to happen in a matter of seconds. Over the course of the fight, Kunzite and Venus had ended up fighting with one another on the palace grounds. From where they were, they could see what was happening on the palace steps._

 _As Kunzite charged at Venus with his sword raised, Venus fired a Crescent Beam attack that managed to force him back. "Why are you doing this, Kunzite? I thought you were a good man! How could you be taking part in this insanity against my people?"_

 _"You dare ask my motives after the crimes your people have committed? You turned my kinsmen into monsters in order to try and control our population! Because of you, I was forced to slay my own parents! And now you've captured our prince and let that harpy you call a princess cast a spell upon his mind! I cannot allow this to continue, which is why I will take back our prince and cut out your princess's heart!"_

 _"Over my dead body!" Venus declared as she fired another Crescent Beam at him._

 _Kunzite dodged the attack and charged at Venus with his sword. Venus had produced a sword of her own and countered his attack. The two of them began to trade blows much more fierce than their original sparring match months ago. Despite the new strength granted to him by Beryl, Kunzite found that he was still at a disadvantage against the blonde. Eventually Venus had backed Kunzite against the wall surrounding the palace, but at the last second hesitated from delivering the finishing blow._

 _Kunzite took the opening and impaled Venus through the stomach. Shocked at her wound, Venus staggered back and fell to one knee. Just as Kunzite was about to deliver a finishing blow of his own and take off Venus's head, a scream was heard from the palace steps that caused them both to look. They Endymion falling to the ground having taken a fatal wound from Beryl. He had apparently taken the attack while trying to shield Serenity from harm._

 _Very soon after, Serenity began to weep over Endymion's fallen body. In that moment, Kunzite realized what had happened, and the shock of losing his prince caused him to realize that they had all made a horrible mistake. He had recalled yet again that it had been Beryl who had attacked his homeland, not Venus. Before Kunzite could do anything with this revelation, he suddenly felt something sharp pierce into his chest. He looked and saw that Venus had not only gotten back to her feet but had managed to stab him in the heart._

 _Venus looked at Kunzite with an expression of utter hate. "You… can go to hell!"_

 _As Venus pulled out her sword, Kunzite fell back against the wall and began to slide to the ground. Before he knew it, his entire world had gone black._

* * *

The replay of memories ended and Kunzite found himself back in the studio field, fighting Ace. The whole experience had shaken Kunzite to his core. It seemed that before he still had some memories of his past life that had remained dormant until Ace had stirred them. He had always recalled Endymion's end during that time with great clarity, but had totally forgotten about his battle to the death with Venus. It was that look Venus had given him at the very end that disturbed him the most, a look that made him think that he didn't deserve to live.

Ace let out a triumphant laugh. "You still think you're worthy of protecting Minako after what you did to her? I was there on the scene at that time, you know. I saw with my own eyes the way you tried to kill the woman you claim to love, and how she stabbed you right back in the heart."

"But that wasn't… I didn't mean… I wasn't myself back then!" Kunzite argued. "Beryl had tricked me!"

"And you think that makes it okay? And what about in this life when you and your comrades tried with all your might to kill Minako and her friends? Face it general, you aren't even worthy to even breath the same air as Minako, let alone protect her."

"Damn you!" Kunzite shouted as he charged at Ace with his sword raised.

Ace merely stood where he was, not bothering to raise his own sword to defend himself. As soon as Kunzite came in range, he swung his sword down to take off Ace's head.

"You… can go to hell," Ace calmly spoke as the edge of the blade came close to his neck.

Ace's words cause Kunzite to stop mid-swing, with his blade only inches from Ace's skin. The phrase caused him to flash back to the very last moment of his past life when Venus stabbed him in the heart. Rather than Ace, Kunzite saw Venus's blue hate-filled eyes burning a hole into his very soul.

A smirk of triumph formed on Ace's face. With his opponent frozen, the former idol stabbed Kunzite through the chest. As Ace withdrew his sword, Kunzite's dropped his own weapon and his arms slumped to the sides of his body. The silver-haired warrior fell to the ground on his back as the life drained out of him.

"Our duel is finished," Ace declared as his sword changed back into a playing card with a puff of white spoke. "Therefore, I'll be taking the princess to her final destiny as the bride of the King."

All Kunzite could so ware stare up at the dreary grey sky above him. He heard a name calling out to him, but it was so faint that it felt miles away. He hoped that it was Minako calling out to him, but Kunzite realized that was probably very unlikely, given everything he'd done to her in this life and the previous one. Very quickly the calling of his name faded to nothing, and Kunzite's world went totally black. It seemed that once again he had reached his end.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I hoped everyone enjoyed this latest installment. It ended up being kind of a hard chapter to write because of the flashback scenes. The Shitennou's confrontation with Endymion, by the way was adapted from another brief scene from the original Sailor Moon manga. The opening for the final flashback scene probably could've been done better, but overall I'm pleased with how the whole chapter turned out, especially the very last scene at the end.

On that note, I realize I've left things at a pretty big cliffhanger here, so I'll try to update as soon as I can. Until then though, please review and let me know what you think.


	9. The Queen in Yellow

**Author's Note:** I didn't think I was going to be done with this chapter until sometime next week, but I was so pleased with how the previous chapter turned out that I couldn't wait to get this one finished.

 **Disclaimer:** I do now own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 9: The Queen in Yellow

 _A gust of wind blew up a small dust storm as Kunzite made his way down a deserted and broken street in the ruins of what was once Tokyo. His armor was tarnished and his cape was tattered and filthy. The silver-haired general was at that moment returning from yet another difficult mission, a mission that once again ended in total defeat. He had left the city with an army of three hundred strong men and women, and once again he was returning home alone. It was really looking like they would never defeat the forces of Carcosa, especially not with their queen leading them into battle._

 _Kunzite finally made it to a large off-white tent set up at the base of Tokyo Tower. The two guards standing at the tent's main entrance saluted Kunzite as he approached, prompting Kunzite to salute back in response. The tent was essentially his kingdom's war room, as they did not have an actual castle. Inside, Kunzite found three men talking next to the tent's large table with its maps still all spread out. Two of the men were ordinary generals, older than he was at least physically. The third was a young-looking dark-haired man clad in black armor with a tattered lavender cape. A white mask covered the top half of the man's handsome face. This was of course one of the two leaders of the resistance, King Endymion._

 _"My King," Kunzite spoke as he approached, getting the attention of all three men. "I return, but I must regretfully report yet another defeat."_

 _"I am simply glad that you came back alive," Endymion responded as he turned to face him. "You are one of the few lights of hope our resistance has left. If we lost you, it would surly crush what little is left of our soldiers' moral."_

 _"I see that once again that Queen Serenity is absent."_

 _At this, Endymion sighed. "Her depression was too great again today. You can't blame her for being so down. After all, the one leading that monster's armies is one of the women who used to be one of her closest friends and protectors."_

 _"I share in the queen's pain. After all, that same woman was the person I loved most."_

 _Endymion gave his general a small smile as he firmly placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that Serenity will join us when she's ready. But for now though, we must carry on without her."_

 _Suddenly a fourteen-year-old boy with brown hair and wearing a soldier uniform burst into the tent. "Sire! I bring grave news! An army from Carcosa is quickly approaching the city's border! They will be here in less than two hours!"_

 _"How large is the army?" Endymion asked._

 _"It's the largest army of monsters I've ever seen. And the Queen in Yellow herself is leading them!"_

 _"Then this may be our last stand," Kunzite realized. "We've known this has been coming for months. They've succeeded in decimating our whole army, and now they're moving in to deliver the killing blow."_

 _"The odds are against us, but we must still stand and fight," Endymion declared. "Kunzite, gather together all the soldiers left in the city and all units in the area. We're going to fight them with everything we've got!"_

 _"At once, my King!" Kunzite responded._

 _After less than an hour and a half, Kunzite stood at the edge of the city with an army of almost four thousand soldiers and battered tanks. The moral of his troops was the lowest it could be. Kunzite looked around and could see it in the faces of all his soldiers that they weren't expecting to come out of this battle alive. Some were terrified, and others appeared as though they had accepted their fate. The thing that got Kunzite the most though was that his troops were probably all right in thinking this battle would end in their destruction._

 _Eventually the army of darkness they were expecting came in sight. It was an army of perhaps over ten thousand strong. The soldiers were all undead monstrosities too horrible for exact description. Some of them had extra heads or an odd number of limbs, and many of them shambled or crawled rather than marched. Taking up the rear of this oncoming army was a group of twenty gargantuan larva-like creatures, all with sets of three green eyes and skin the color of spoiled cheese. The worm things were essentially the tanks used by the army of Carcosa. Meanwhile flying through the air were several large green vulture-like creatures with scaly bodies, membranous wings, and heads with yellow eye and tentacles where a beak would be on the head of a bird._

 _Kunzite stepped forward and drew his sword. "My soldiers, I realize that this may be our last battle, but regardless we must fight on in the hopes we can finally beat this enemy so that our glorious Moon Kingdom can rise again and bring light back to this world! Now then, onward! Fight to the last and show no mercy!"_

 _With that, the soldiers cried out and charged towards the oncoming army of horrors. It did not take long for the battle to be joined. Kunzite's soldiers used their guns and their swords to blow and cut the undead soldiers to bits. Very early into the battle, several of the wings horrors that had been flying above swooped down and carried some of Kunzite's troops into the air with the large razor-sharp talons to never be seen again. The Moon Kingdom tanks began firing rounds into crowd of undead monsters. The larva creatures fired back by spitting globs of green acid that sailed across the battlefield. As the gelatinous projectiles struck the tanks, they began melting into piles of fused metal._

 _Meanwhile, Kunzite was busy fighting off dozens of monsters with his sword and darkness attacks. Just when there was a pause in the battle, he suddenly heard and insane laugh a few feet off to his right._

 _"My, oh my! You're a strong one, yes you are," an all too familiar voice declared._

 _Kunzite looked to his right, and standing a few feet off to his right was a young-looking woman with long blonde hair and chalk-white skin. A sickly yellow bow decorated the back of her head, and she had on a black sailor guardian uniform with a tattered yellow skirt. On the front of her chest was a tattered yellow bow with an upside-down red star on the front. A yellow mask covered the top half of her face, and adorning her forehead was the glowing mark of the Yellow Sign. This was the woman who had come to be feared by all as the Queen in Yellow, Sailor Venus._

 _"You're not like any of the other soldiers," Venus continued as she took a step towards Kunzite. Kunzite noticed that she seemed to be holding something behind her back. "The regular soldiers I can all squish like bugs. Squish. Squish. Squish. It's boring killing them. But killing you should be loads of fun!"_

 _"Venus! It's me, Kunzite! Don't you recognize me?"_

 _"Kunzite… Kunzite…" Venus spoke with a tilt of her head. "I heard that name before, but I can't remember where." She then revealed the object that she had been holding behind her back, and the sight of it sickened Kunzite. "Hey Artemis, do you remember meeting a Mr. Kunzite before?"_

 _The object in Venus's hands, the object she was now speaking to, was the mummified corpse of her former partner, Artemis. The cat's once white fur was now grey and matted with patched missing, and his eyes were nothing more than empty sockets. Parts of his body looked as through they had been stitched back together repeatedly. Venus looked intently at Artemis as though she were expecting the dead cat to say something. She seemed to be treating the body of her dead partner as though he were some sort of stuffed animal._

 _"Oh… poo, Artemis. You're never any help," Venus declared before tossing the corpse away and turning her full attention back to Kunzite. "Now then Mister, I'm gonna kill you now. But try not to die too quickly, 'kay?"_

 _With that, Venus fired a black Crescent Beam from her right index finger at Kunzite. The silver-haired general sidestepped the attack and fired an Obsidian Lance attack from his sword. Venus cackled madly as she flipped through the air and avoiding the attack. The blonde landed right behind Kunzite, and it was when he turned around to face her that he got a good look at Venus's eyes. Her eyes were totally black except for a pair of pale white irises._

 _"That was fun!" Venus declared with a mad grin. "Come at me even harder!"_

 _"Venus, why are you doing this?" Kunzite asked. "This isn't you! You're supposed to be the guardian of love and beauty!"_

 _Venus tilted her head in confusion. "Love? Love… love… another familiar word, but… I can't… remember. Oh well! It doesn't matter. All that matters is carrying out my husband's will, for he is the living God and cannot be defied. No sir."_

 _In that moment it was crystal clear that the woman standing before him was no longer Sailor Venus. Hastur had taken her, broke her mind, drained her of everything that was pure and good, and reduced her to the pitiful insane thing that stood before him. Kunzite realized that he had no choice but to put her out of her misery._

 _"Venus… forgive me for what I must do," Kunzite spoke before stabbing her through the heart._

 _A tear streamed down his cheek as he pulled the blade out and stepped back. To his horror and amazement though, Venus did not collapse. In fact the wound he had just inflicted on her healed in a matter of seconds._

 _"Lame!" Venus declared before suddenly firing another black Crescent Beam that struck Kunzite though the heart. In an instant, Kunzite fell to his knees. "You're no fun at all. I know! I'll go and destroy that city you were protecting! That otta be more fun!"_

 _With that, Venus leapt into the air towards the ruins of Tokyo. Kunzite reached out to try and stop her only to fall to the ground on his face. As the hopeless battle against the army of Carcosa continued to rage around him, Kunzite's whole world went dark._

* * *

Kunzite's eyes snapped open as he gasped and shot up from where he was lying on the ground. In a moment he realized he was back in the field where he had fought Ace.

"You okay?" a familiar voice asked. Kunzite looked down and saw Artemis sitting next to him.

"I'm feeling a bit better seeing you alive," Kunzite admitted, recalling the way Venus had played with the feline's corpse in his nightmare. "What happened?"

"What happened is you screwed up, you dumbass!" a familiar voice shouted. Kunzite looked to see a furious Hilda standing behind him. "I can't leave you alone for a damn minute! You know that I just had to bring you back from the dead again, right? Thank the gods you weren't out for too long, otherwise bringing you back would've been a much bigger pain in the as than it already was!"

As Kunzite got to his feet, he recalled how Ace had stabbed him and seemingly killed him. It was then that an urgent question popped into his mind. "Where's Minako?"

"Ace and the film crew took Mina away!" Artemis answered.

"Which is the last thing we wanted to happen!" Hilda shouted. "You're an even bigger screw-up than I thought you were! By the way, that little dream you had while you were taking you little nap just now? That was my doing! I thought I should show you what would potentially happen if we fail to stop Hastur! Of course you don't actually have to worry about living through that future because if we screw up, you're dead! Or did you forget about the little condition of your parole?"

"Does this mean there's still a chance to save Minako?" Kunzite asked.

"Oh for the love of Odin. Yes, there's still a chance to save her, you pea-brained pretty boy! But that chance is going to vanish quickly if we don't move soon!"

"Before that Hilda, I think it's past time you told us who you really are!" Artemis told her.

Hilda groaned. "Oh fine! I guess there's no harm in revealing myself now that we've screwed up this bad!"

With that, Hilda clutched her chest with her right hand while raising her left high into the air. Suddenly a dazzling silvery light began to shine from beneath her palm.

"Brunhilde Star Power MAKE-UP!" Hilda called out before being enveloped by a pillar of silver light that shot high into the air.

In moments the light faded to reveal the redhead in a new form. She had on an outfit similar to that of a sailor guardian, only more armored. A plate of silver armor covered the front of her torso, and on her chest was a golden bow with a heart-shaped crystalline broach in the center. A short golden skirt hung down around her waist, and two pieces of golden armor covered her shoulders. On her legs she wore a pair of knee-high silver boots, and a pair of elbow-high silver gloves covered her hands. A gold tiara covered the redhead's forehead, and decorating the sides of her head was a pair of white metal wings.

"Guided by the Brunhilde moon of Planet Folkvangr, I am Sailor Brunhilde!" the redhead declared as she did a dramatic pose.

"You're a Sailor Guardian?" a stunned Artemis asked. "I thought most of the other Sailor Guardians in the Milky Way had been killed by Galaxia."

"Oh please. That bitch couldn't even tarnish my boots. Besides, most of the other Sailor Guardians in the galaxy have since regenerated and returned to their own lives just as Sailor Venus and the other guardians of this solar system have. Plus my home world was kept hidden during the time of that woman's foolish campaign. Anyway, I am the leader of a team of special Sailor Guardians known as the Sailor Valkyries. We are one of the oldest groups of Sailor Guardians in this galaxy to exist."

"What do you know of this King in Yellow who's taken Minako?" Kunzite asked.

"Do you know why we Sailor Guardians exist?" Brunhilde began. "We exist to keep the galaxy from becoming corrupted. Think of us all as white blood cells protecting the body from disease. But there are some diseases that are a little too strong for us to fight; creatures that are less like a simple virus and more like cancer. The entity you know as the King in Yellow is one such example.

"The King, or rather Hastur, comes from a planet that exists in a dimension that's separate from our own yet also occupies the same space. When the stars are right, and Aldebaran aligns properly with Earth's sun and other celestial bodies, Hastur's world comes into our dimension for a few months at a time. This alignment happens only once every few thousand years, and when it does happen, Hastur does everything he can to corrupt the galaxy into his own twisted image."

"But you must have defeated Hastur when he tried to invade our dimension before," Kunzite assumed.

Brunhilde shook her head. "All we could do was keep Hastur at bay. Fortunately when the alignment ends, both Hastur and his planet are forced back into their own dimension. However, even trapped Hastur is able to influence the minds and dreams of people living in our dimension, even gifting them with knowledge on how to travel to his planet's capital of Carcosa through dreams, and even grant them certain powers. Using these tactics, Hastur had created heralds to spread his will, heralds such as One-Eyed Pete, the author of that play known as The King in Yellow."

"Alright, so what does Hastur want with Mina?" Artemis asked.

"Because of the relatively short time Hastur can spend in our dimension, he operates by manipulating Sailor Guardians into becoming his bride and corrupting them, and in doing so he also corrupts the planets those Sailor Guardians protect. In short, Hastur is trying to corrupt our galaxy one planet at a time."

"Well if that's true, then why hasn't Hastur come after Sailor Moon?" Kunzite asked.

"There are two reasons. I can't tell you what the first one is right now, but the second is because Sailor Moon is no ordinary Sailor Guardian. Her power seems closer to that of a goddess. She might've even been a match to the dead gods of my home planet of Folkvangr. In fact, Sailor Moon's power is so strong, there's a chance she might even be able to destroy the likes of Hastur and his brethren."

"Wait, brethren? You mean there are more creatures like Hastur out there?" Artemis asked.

"There's no time to get into that now!" Brunhilde told them both as she turned towards the direction of the dead forest. "Right now we have to rescue Sailor Venus before Hastur manages to corrupt her. Fortunately I'm able to track her energy, and because of that I know exactly where she's being held."

"Then you and Artemis should go on without me," Kunzite told them. "Clearly my usefulness here has come to an end."

"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Artemis asked with a quirked brow.

"Ace was right. I do not deserve Minako. During our battle, he awakened more lost memories of my past life. I now recall perfectly how I tried to kill her when the Moon Kingdom fell, and the look of hatred towards me in her eyes when she stabbed me with her own sword. Since then I've continued to fail her. I failed her again when I blindly walked back into Beryl's clutches, and just now when Ace defeated me. If Minako is to be saved, it's better if I stay out of your way."

Cursing under her breath, Brunhilde stormed over and kneed Kunzite in the stomach hard, causing him to drop to his knees. "Quit feeling sorry for yourself, you little maggot! Look, there's no denying that you're a screw-up. Honestly, you're still the last person I would've picked to help me with this mission. But this is you're one golden opportunity to make up for all your mistakes. Do you really wanna screw that up to? Especially with the life and sanity of the woman you love at stake?"

"Kunzite," Artemis spoke, getting his attention. "I hate admitting this to you, but… after Ace stabbed you, she became distraught and started calling your name. Right up to the moment when Ace knocked her out and whisked her away, she seemed horrified that you might be dead. Look, I still don't like you a single bit, but the fact is Sailor Brunhilde and I can't rescue Mina with out your help. So come on. Mina is counting on you right now."

At this, Kunzite finally rose back to his feet. "You're right. The most important thing right now is to save Minako. I may be nothing more than a curse to her, but I'm going to fight with everything I have to save her."

* * *

Minako finally awoke in a large dusty bedroom with cobwebs covering the walls and ceiling. The sheets of the bed she was on were torn and so filthy they were yellow. There was only one small slender window in the room, and it was high in the wall and so covered in grim that it barely let in any light at all.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," a voice spoke. Sitting up, Minako looked and saw Ace leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, still in full costume. "I was starting to worry that I may have hit you a little too hard."

"Where am I?" Minako asked.

"At Hellmouth Castle, awaiting the arrival of His Majesty. Oh, and in case you haven't realized it, this is no longer a movie."

Just then, Minako recalled what happened during the filming of the last scene. "What happened to Keisuke?"

"Weren't you paying attention? He's dead. I killed him myself."

Tears suddenly began to well up in Minako's eyes. "You're lying… there's no way Keisuke could've been killed by the likes of you."

"Deny the truth all you want. It won't change anything," Ace stated as he began to walk towards her. "Besides, you know there wasn't ever going to be a future for you two." With a flick of his fingers he produced the Ace of Hearts and tossed it onto the bed. "True love is just not in your destiny, only your duty."

"And so you're saying now that my duty is to marry that monster you call a king?"

"Your duty calls you to make sacrifices for the good of your kingdom. If you refuse to marry His Majesty, then he'll simply go after one of your fellow Sailor Guardians. Perhaps even your princess. Could you really sacrifice one of them for your own sake?"

Minako found that the idea of doing such a thing chilled her to the bone. Even if it was only in dreams, she had seen the King in Yellow with her own eyes and knew that she couldn't possibly sacrifice any of her friends to that creature, especially not Usagi.

A triumphant smirk formed on Ace's face. "I thought not. There's still a bit of time before His Majesty arrives. I suggest you use that time to come to terms with what you know you have to do."

With that, Ace left the room, shutting the door tightly behind him. Minako remained where she was frozen on the bed. Her mind scrambled to find a way out of her current predicament, all she could think about was Keisuke. She still couldn't accept Ace's claim that he was dead, yet she had seen him get stabbed with her own eyes. Minako knew that there was very little chance of being able to live through a wound like that, and the possibility that Keisuke might actually be dead caused Minako to break down and sob.

* * *

Out in the hallway, Ace had begun to make his way to the ballroom where the King would be arriving. He hadn't gotten three steps when he saw One-Eyed Pete standing before him.

"How is our Princess Cassilda doing?" Pete asked.

"She's awake. And her will seems to be crumbling," Ace answered. "I'm a little disappointed, really. Her spunk is one of the things I've always liked most about her."

"Remember Mr. Saijyo, she is to become the King's, not yours."

"You don't have to remind me of my duty or my destiny. Now, did you simply come for a status update on Minako, or is there something else you wanted?"

"I regret to inform you that our Mr. Tenju, or rather General Kunzite, is still alive and heading here right now."

Ace blinked in total disbelief. "How?"

"It seems that the one who restored her to life is a powerful Sailor Guardian from a planet at the very edge of the galaxy. Her group is an old enemy of His Majesty."

"I take it that Kunzite and this Sailor Guardian are heading here for the castle as we speak."

"Indeed. And we must not allow them to interfere with His Majesty's wedding."

Ace sighed and produced the Ace of Spades in his right hand. "It seems that the general is far more stubborn than I realized. Do not worry Maestro. This time I will make sure that Kunzite will be unable to interfere. And to prove that I have succeeded, I will take his head and present it to you and His Majesty."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The hardest part of this chapter ended up being the dream sequence at the beginning. The tricky part about it was figuring out how to show that Minako/Venus had gone totally insane, and I think I did a pretty good job. So in case anyone hadn't realized it, this story has gone full-on Lovecraft. Originally it was going to be based solely on The King in Yellow, which is or can be kind of its own separate thing from the Cthulhu Mythos, but I realized that having Hastur be the main villain in every one of these Sailor Moon stories I'm doing in connection to this one didn't make much sense.

So in this chapter, we not only got a little more exposition from Hilda about what's going on, we also got to find out her true identity. Part of the reason why Hilda/Brunhilde and the other members of her yet-to-be-seen group are based on Valkyries is because of how Valkyries deal with dead warriors, in this case Kunzite and the other Shitennou. This is the third time now though that I've mixed together Cthulhu Mythos elements with elements of Norse Mythology in a story (the first being a short-lived series of Gundam SEED fanfics that are on indefinite hiatus, and the second time being my two _Sword Art Online_ fanfics, The Gold Swordsman and Clash of Queens). This time around though, the combination wasn't at all deliberate, it just kind of happened somehow.

Well, the next chapter probably won't be up until sometime next week, but I'll try to get it finished as soon as I can. until then, please review and let me know what you think.


	10. The Queens of Carcosa

**Author's Note:** I was starting to think I wasn't going to be able to get this chapter up this week. It ended up being kind of a hard one to write for reasons I'll explain at the end.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 9: The Queens of Carcosa

Minako had been pacing around her room for the last several minutes trying to figure a way out of her current predicament. She felt as though she were a cornered mouse about to be devoured by a ravenous cat, which was what she essentially was. In a matter of hours she would be offered up to Ace's King in Yellow as a bride. What troubled Minako the most though was that she was just letting it happen. Normally in a situation like this she would be trying to fight her way out, but something in her head was telling her to stay in her room and await news of the King's arrival, as if it were her duty to do so.

After completing what was probably her hundredth lap around the room, Minako decided that she had had enough. She wasn't going to let whatever it was in her head that had wrapped itself around her free will order her around. She was still a Sailor Guardian and the captain of Princess Serenity's royal guard, and she wasn't going to just lie down and die because some alien king was telling her to. At last Minako went over to the door and tried the knob, finding it totally unlocked. Minako found it rather insulting that her captors felt that they didn't even need to bother locking her in her room, and it also greatly disgusted her that until just now, they had been right.

Even as Minako opened the door, she felt a strong hesitation that almost made the wooden door feel as heavy as a stone slab. She fought through it though and made her way into the hallway. After taking a quick look around to make sure she was alone, Minako began to try and look for some sort of exit. The trouble was she had no idea where in the castle she was going, and the longer it took for her to escape meant the greater her chances of being discovered before she could get out. Plus whatever it was that had clamped itself onto her mind was practically screaming at her to go back to her room and wait for doom like a good little sacrifice.

Minako ignored that parasitic voice in her mind though and went down the hallway. She had gotten to the first intersection when she had heard some sort of humming down the hall on her left. The blond turned to see wandering the hallway with a dreamy smile on her face as she ran her fingers along the wall. The woman had chalk-white skin and chestnut brown hair that was arranged in a long braided ponytail that went halfway down her back. What immediately struck Minako about this woman was that she was dressed like a Sailor Guardian.

Covering the brown-haired woman's chest was a sort of black low-cut tank top that showed off her midriff and featured a tattered yellow bow on the front. In the center of this bow was a grey crystalline broach resembling a flower. Around her waist was a short tattered yellow skirt with a large tattered bow on the back. She also had on a pair of black knee-high high-heeled boots, and black fingerless gloves that went all the way up to her elbow. Minako also noticed that the brown-haired woman had an all too familiar yellow glyph on her forehead, and her eyes were pitch-black except for a pair of greenish-grey irises.

It seemed to Minako that this woman who may or may not be a Sailor Guardian didn't notice her. She simply kept wandering the hallway as though in a trance or high on some drug. Minako realized that this meant she could just sneak past without being seen, but she also still needed directions and it seemed like this woman might not attack her. Plus there was a sort of morbid curiosity about this woman that Minako needed satisfying, even though she knew she probably wouldn't at all like what she would find out.

"Um… excuse me," Minako called hesitantly. "Could I get your help please?"

The brown-haired woman stopped her humming and finally looked at Minako. "Oh! Good day to you. I am Sailor Eden."

"You're a Sailor Guardian?"

Sailor Eden nodded. "I was once the crown princess of Planet Eden, but now I am a queen of Carcosa. I'm so sorry I didn't notice you earlier, but I was trying to remember… remember… what was I trying to remember? Oh, it doesn't matter. Come! You must simply join the rest of us for tea. We should be starting soon."

"Actually I was hoping you could give me directions to the front door of this place."

"Are you trying to leave?" Eden asked as she suddenly rushed up to Minako and took both her hands. "Oh no, no, no, no! You simply cannot leave yet. You just must meet the others for tea. We've so been looking forward to meeting you."

"Well… okay. But then I really have to be going."

With that, Eden began to guide Minako down the hallway from which she had first come down. Minako felt sure that going with this strange Sailor Guardian was the worst thing she could be doing, but she still needed directions out of the castle and playing along with Eden seemed like her best shot.

"So, um… what's Planet Eden like?" Minako asked in an attempt to lighten the tension.

"It was beautiful once… at least I think so. It was so long ago that I don't remember. But… I think I was… happy? Back then? Oh who knows? It doesn't matter now. Planet Eden is long dead, and I am now but a faithful servant and wife to His Majesty."

Minako was now sure that asking Sailor Eden for help getting out of the castle had been a mistake. From what she had just heard, Eden had once been in the very same position she was in now. In a few more moments, Eden had delivered Minako to a set of large wooden doors at the end of the hallway. Eden pushed the doors open to reveal a large dining room with torn and moldering paintings hanging on the ornate walls. Minako saw three women sitting around the long rectangular table.

Sitting at the table's right side was a woman with long and very dark wavy hair and deep purple lips. The most surprising feature about this woman was that she had four arms, each with long purple nails on the fingers and thick black bracelets on each wrist. She also had on a Sailor Guardian costume consisting of a black shirt with a tattered yellow bow on the front, and a very short yellow skirt with another much larger tattered bow on the back. In the middle of the bow on her chest was a broach in the form of a grey crystal skull. The woman had an indifferent expression on her face as she filed the nails of her upper right hand while sipping from a cup of tea with her lower right hand, and like Sailor Eden she had chalk-white skin, a yellow glyph on her forehead, and black eyes with purplish-grey irises.

"Eden… why did you bring that girl here?" the four-armed woman asked with a sigh as she continued to file her nails. "That was such a pointless thing to do."

"That's Sailor Khali, formerly of Planet Khali," Eden informed Minako as she pointed to the four-armed woman. "But now like all of us, she is a queen of Carcosa."

"You shouldn't have brought her!" the woman at the head of the table snapped as she slammed her fist into the table.

It was at this point when Minako got a good look at the woman at the table's head. She was extremely large and quite muscular, and like the others had chalk-white skin, a yellow glyph on her forehead, and black eyes with greyish-red irises. Attached to the black shirt of her Sailor Guardian costume was a skin-tight black hood, and growing from around the top of her head through this hood were eight yellow bone-like spikes that curved upward and were arranged like a crown. In the center of the tattered yellow bow on the front of the giant woman's chest was a grey crystal in the shape of an inverted diamond, and around her waist was a thick and tarnished brass-colored metal belt with a large grey crystal buckle. Thick tarnished pieces of brass-colored armor covered her shoulders, and she also had on long black gloves that ended just short of her elbows, black knee-high boots, and a tattered yellow skirt with a large and equally tattered bow on the back.

"This is Sailor Omicron, formerly of Planet Omicron Delta 12 and guardian of the whole Omicron system," Eden informed Minako. "What's the matter Omicron? Why shouldn't I brought her here?"

"Why? Because her being here causes disorder!" Omicron practically shouted as she stood from her chair and rose to her full height of eight feet. "This table only has four chairs and there are now five people! You can't have a party for five people with only four chairs! There must only be four people, otherwise there is no order!"

"Would you quit making such a fuss?" Khali told the giant as she continued to file her nails. "Your complaining is all so pointless."

"There must always be order in the world!" Omicron insisted. "Without order, the world doesn't make sense, and it needs to make sense! Having order will make everything right!"

Minako decided to turn her attention to the last woman sitting at the table. She was fairly small and had wavy dark-blue hair that ended just at her shoulders, long pointed ears like those of an elf, and a pair of short antenna growing from her head through her hair. Like the other three women, she had chalk-white skin and a yellow glyph on her forehead, and her pitch-black eyes had bluish-grey irises. On the chest of the black shirt she wore was a tattered yellow bow with a grey crystal broach in the shape of a butterfly in the center, and around her waist was a short tattered yellow skirt with a large but thin yellow bow on the back. She had knee-high black boots on her legs, and elbow-high black gloves covering her arms.

"The last member of our party is Sailor AlfHime, formerly of Planet AlfHime," Eden formed Minako. "She became a queen of Carcosa after all of us, and is in a way our little sister."

Dark-blue tears were streaming down Sailor AlfHime's face as she took a sip from her teacup. As soon as she put it down on the saucer, she began sobbing.

Out of pity, Minako went over to AlfHime to see what was wrong. "Hey there. Everything okay?"

AlfHime stopped crying and looked up at Minako with blue mascara still running down her face. "Oh… hello there. Say, could you do me a favor?"

"I can try," Minako answered as she leaned in towards the smaller girl. "What is it?"

"Could you please kill me?"

Minako suddenly backed away. "Um… excuse me?"

"Please? I really want to die," AlfHime continued as she rose from her chair. "I can't stand living like this anymore."

"Uh… well… I don't know."

"I'm begging you! Please! I need you to put an end to this torture for me!" AlfHime begged as she started to break down again. "I can't stand this existence anymore!"

"Will you be quiet?" Omicron shouted. "I need to think! I need to think so I can figure out how to put things back in order! Have to think, have to think, I have to think!"

"Please kill!" AlfHime insisted as she came towards Minako, totally ignoring Omicron's outburst. "I don't care how you do it, just do it quick!"

Omicron glared furiously at AlfHime as a large black double-sided axe with a long handle materialized in her hand.

"Be quiet!" Omicron shouted as she swung her axe over the table.

In less than a second, Omicron's axe had taken off AlfHime's head. Minako watched with wide-eyed horror as the elf-like girl's head rolled across the floor. Her body meanwhile remained standing where it was like a rooted tree.

"Well? Am I dead yet?" a voice spoke from the floor. Minako looked down and saw that it was AlfHime's head that had spoken. Her eyes were still open and moving. "I'm dead now, aren't I?"

"How utterly pointless," Khali spoke with a heavy sigh. "Eden, be a dear and help AlfHime, would you?"

"Certainly," Eden spoke as she went over and picked AlfHime's head off the floor.

Eden the placed AlfHime's head back onto the stump of her neck. To Minako's utter shock and horror, the elf-like girl's severed head reattached itself to her body, not even leaving a scar.

"Oh, it's no use!" AlfHime sobbed as she sat back in her chair and covered her face with her hands. "No matter what I do, I just can't die!"

"How pointless," Khali remarked with another sigh, taking another sip from her teacup.

AlfHime uncovered her face and noticed a large knife sitting on the table. She then began stabbing herself in the heart repeatedly in an attempt to commit suicide, and each time the wound she inflicted upon herself regenerated instantly. Minako meanwhile backed away in horror, her trembling hands going up to cover her mouth in order to stifle a scream. Not only were the four Sailor Guardians before her of the undead, they were also all clearly insane.

"Ah! There you are, Princess," a voice spoke from behind. Minako turned around to see the diminutive One-Eyed Pete with his oversized mouth curved into a smile and his hands calmly folded behind his back. "I was wondering where you might've wandered off to."

"And now there are six people in the room!" Omicron shouted as she swung her axe into the table. "Six people! Four chairs! It makes no sense! You can't have a party for six people with only four chairs! It's chaos!"

"Forgive me, your highness," Pete told Omicron with a bow. "I will leave and take the Princess here with me. She needs to rest before His Majesty gets here. Your order will be restored."

With that, Pete escorted the bewildered Minako out of the room. As they left, Eden went back to humming the same tune Minako had heard her hum when she first encountered her and started wandering around the room. Omicron meanwhile seemed to calm down and sat back in her chair.

Pete chuckled as they walked down the hall. "Colorful bunch, aren't they?"

"They… are they all married to the King in Yellow?" Minako asked.

Pete nodded. "They are but a small part of His Majesty's harem. Unfortunately we could not invite all of His wives to this wedding because there simply wouldn't be enough room in the castle. The four you just met though are His top favorites. You are sure to become a favorite of His Majesty's as well, if I am a proper judge of character."

It was then that a dark thought suddenly came to Minako. "Are… are you going to try and marry off all my friends to the King as well?"

"Perhaps. Though I might be able to persuade His Majesty to leave them alone if you go through with the wedding without a fuss. At this point Princess, you should know what your duty is."

Minako had to concede that Pete had a point. She couldn't leave Usagi or any other others to go through the horror she had become trapped in and end up like those poor broken women she had just met. In moments, Pete had returned the blonde to her room. Minako checked the door once the one-eyed man had left and found that once again he had not bothered to lock it, but this time Minako was in no rush to leave. She still wasn't quite ready to just roll over and die though, and her mind began scrambling to figure out a solution to her problem despite the parasitic voice in her head that was once again telling her to stay put and fulfill the duty that had been imposed on her.

* * *

Kunzite and Brunhilde were making their way through the dead forest to Hellmouth Castle as fast as they could, with Artemis clinging to Kunzite's shoulder as they ran. Artemis still loathed the idea of working together with Kunzite, but the feline knew that he was still their best shot at rescuing Minako.

"We should be almost there," Brunhilde informed the others. "I should've known that the castle in this forest was the hideout for Hastur's minions. According to local history, that castle is said to have a rather sinister reputation, along with this forest were in. This whole area was probably blighted by Hastur's influence ages ago."

"I've noticed that most Hastur's minions seem to be dead things brought back to life," Kunzite remarked. "Like those skeleton soldiers Minako and I fought not long ago."

Brunhilde nodded. "Hastur typically reanimates the dead and uses them to do its bidding. Some of these minions are essentially just mindless robots, like the soldiers you're talking about. Others though like this One-Eyed Pete who wrote the play about Hastur and your buddy, Phantom Ace are beings who've been fully reanimated, with their souls attached to their dead bodies. Pete and other minions like him view this as a form of immortality."

"And does Hastur intend to do the same to Minako?"

"It does, and it's what the thing has done to all of its Sailor Guardian brides. Nobody knows for certain, but it seems that when Hastur mates with and corrupts his brides, the experience drives them insane and kills them, but then Hastur immediately brings them back to serve as his loyal undead queens. They become pathetic shadows of their former selves, cursed to spend eternity as Hastur's insane and undead playthings."

"You've had to fight some of these Sailor Guardians in the past, haven't you?" Artemis asked. "During that war with Hastur you told us about before."

A look of sadness came to Brunhilde's face. "Some of them were friends of my mistress and myself. One of those friends was Sailor Eden, protector of Planet Eden, one of the first and oldest planets in our solar system. It was also one of the very first planets to fall under Hastur's influence."

"This Hastur really is a horrible being," Kunzite declared with a scowl. "How could such a being like him exist?"

"You might as well be asking how things like disease could exist. And you're making a mistake when you refer to that monstrosity as a 'him'. That creature is nothing more than a cosmic anomaly with a perception of the universe so unfathomably different from our own that we can only call it insanity."

"Isn't there any way to restore those Sailor Guardians back to their former selves?" Artemis asked.

Brunhilde let out a bitter chuckle. "Love your idealism, mouse breath. But the fact is that once Hatur gets its claws, or tentacles, or whatever its true form as for appendages into a Sailor Guardian, it's too late to save them. That's why we should stop this chatting and get to the castle as soon as possible, so we can save Sailor Venus while we still have a chance."

Within another few moments, Hellmouth Castle finally came into sight in the distance. The three knew that it wouldn't take them much longer to get there. Just when they were finally starting to get close though, Ace appeared with a burst of black smoke.

"Sorry, but this is as far as you all go," Ace told the three. "This wedding is a private function, and none of you are invited."

"Get out of our way, Saijyo!" Kunzite ordered as he drew his sword and pointed it at him. Otherwise I'm going to take off your head!"

Ace chuckled and shook his head. "It seems you're a slow learner, General. I showed you when we last fought that your existence only brings Minako misery. It's best that you just stayed away."

"You may be right about me being only a curse to Minako, but I'm not going to stand by and let her be taken by a creature that's far worse to her than either of us! Now step aside!"

"Afraid I can't do that," Ace told him as an Ace of Spades appeared in his hand. With a puff of smoke, the card turned into a sword. "Guess you and I are going to have a little rematch."

"Not so fast," Brunhilde spoke as she stepped forward. "Put your sword away, Kunzite. I can take care of this masked pretty boy far quicker than you can."

"You must be the alien Sailor Guardian that the Maestro told me about. I've actually arranged a different set of opponents for you."

With that, Ace snapped his fingers and the ground around them began to shake. Suddenly several bony arms started to burst up from the earth, and in seconds they were surrounded by an army undead skeleton soldiers. Then just after the soldiers had emerged, five gigantic larva-like creatures erupted from the ground behind Ace and towered over the whole group. The beasts were a sickening shade of yellowish-green and each had skull-like faces.

"Oh crap," Brunhilde cursed upon seeing the undead horde.

"Like I said, this is as far as you all go," Ace declared as he pointed his sword at Kunzite. "And this time General, I'm going to make sure you stay dead."

* * *

Minako left her room once again on a quest to find the exit out of the castle. This time she was being extra careful not to be seen, as she didn't want to encounter any of the King's insane wives again. As Minako traversed the halls of the castle, she found that the voice that had been telling her to stay in her room was gone. She had no idea why that parasitic voice had decided to go silent, but Minako decided not to question it. Minako did find though that as she navigated the halls, she felt a sort of certainty about where she was going; that each turn she took was exactly the right one.

As time went on, Minako found that it felt as though she were being drawn somewhere in the castle. She had decided to go with the flow for the time being though in the hopes that wherever she was being drawn to in the castle was the same place that had the front door out. Eventually Minako finally reached the spot in the castle she was being pulled to, and to her horror she recognized it quite well because she had seen it many times in her dreams. It was the ballroom where that horrible masquerade of the dead was always held. Now it was empty, but the room was exactly like Minako had always dreamed it.

"Right on time, Princess!" a familiar voice cheerfully spoke. Minako turned around to once again see One-Eyed Pete lurking behind her. "His Majesty is just about to arrive. It's only proper that you be here to greet him."

Suddenly the mark on Minako's arm hidden under the sleeve of her dress began to burn like it was on fire. It was then that Minako realized that Pete and perhaps the King himself were somehow using the mark to control her. The massive doors in the room creaked open and a thick mist poured out to cover the floor of the room. Minako stood froze in terror as she watched a familiar figure emerge from the dark doorway. Marching through the opening in a mechanical fashion was the armored form of the King in Yellow just as Minako had seen him in his dreams. His body still moved like that of a marionette, and black starlight burned from the eyeholes of his pallid mask.

"My King," Pete spoke with a bow as the monarch approached them. "It is always so humbling to be in your presence. I present to you your bride, Princess Venus."

The King took Minako's hand and kissed it with the lips of his mask. His mere touch caused Minako's skin to crawl, and she had to fight hard the urge to vomit.

"The preparations for the wedding are almost complete, sire," Pete continued. "We shall have the ceremony within the hour. Until then, perhaps you would like to visit with your other wives. They are currently all gathered in the main dining hall."

The King nodded, and Pete snapped his fingers. Marching into the empty ballroom was a mummified living corpse dressed as a pageboy. The King followed the walking corpse out of the room to where the four fallen Sailor Guardians were still having their mad tea party.

"There's no escape for you now, you know," Pete told Minako as she watched the King leave. "You can resist all you like, but in the end you have already been branded as His. Your very destiny belongs to Him to do with as He wishes. But do not worry. For now you are but a princess serving an undeserving queen, but in an hour you shall be a queen yourself and know pleasures beyond human imagination. Now, let's get you back to your room so you can get ready."

Minako didn't even struggle as Pete took her hand and guided back to her room. Now that the King had arrived, she felt that her last chance of escape had gone up in smoke. Very soon she would end up becoming just like the broken women she had met earlier, and there was no longer anything she could do to stop it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The hardest part of this chapter was the beginning where Minako met some of Hastur's previous brides. I realized that I hadn't put any thought into what those characters would be like during the story's outline stage. The first step was figuring out just how many of Hastur's wives I should have show up, and after I did I just pulled each one out of the air as I was writing the scene. One thing I did realize as I was writing the scene was that since these fallen Sailor Guardians would be aliens from other worlds, I could get a little creative with their designs. The really hard part though was figuring out their personalities. I tried very hard not to give them all the same child-like personality that Minako had in Kunzite's dream from the start of the last chapter. One thing this experience has taught me is that it's surpisingly rather hard to write for crazy people.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. False Prophet

**Author's Note:** I apologize in advance for this next chapter being so short. I thought that the battle scene we're about to see would go on for more pages.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 11: False Prophet

Kunzite and Brunhilde's battle against Ace and his undead legion had quickly gotten underway. Brunhilde had produced a glittering silver sword with a golden crossguard in the shape of angelic wings and was currently hacking away at the oncoming corpse soldiers. Unfortunately with each soldier she cut down, it seemed like two more would burst out of the ground to take its place. Meanwhile one of the giant skull-faced larvae would occasionally spew out a green blob of acidic slim down at Brunhilde that she would either simply dodge by jumping out of the projectile's path or knock away with her sword. Artemis had since moved over to Brunhilde's side to watch her progress and assist her as needed, though the feline had no idea how he might possibly help in such a struggle.

At one point, one of the skull larva spewed out a glob of acidic slime that that singed off a few strands of Brunhilde's hair and nearly hit Artemis. Fortunately Artemis had managed to jump out of the glob's path at the last second.

"That does it!" Brunhilde exclaimed as she raised her sword high. As she did, the sword's blade began to glow with a dazzling white light. "Victory Arrow!"

Brunhilde swung her sword downward, and from the blade shot a massive blast of white light that formed into the shape of an arrow at the head. The blast struck the larva that had just fired on her and Artemis, causing it to explode and vaporizing a large chunk of the surrounding corpse soldiers. In a few more moments though, several more soldiers had burst from the earth to avenge their fallen comrades.

"They just keep coming!" Artemis exclaimed. "How the hell are we ever going to end this?"

"The only way for it to end is for Phantom Ace to be taken out," Brunhilde answered. "Which means Kunzite needs to stop taking his sweet time and finish the bastard already."

Not far away, Kunzite and Ace were engaged in a brutal sword fight with one another. Neither one of them was giving an inch. The whole time though, Ace had a confident smirk on his face, which served only to infuriate Kunzite. What got to him even more though was that Ace didn't seem to be tiring at all. Kunzite didn't know if it was because Ace was of the undead, or of it was due to something else. Either way, Kunzite was starting to fear that he'd run out of steam before he could finish things.

"This is really disappointing, you know," Ace remarked as he parried another of Kunzite's blows. "To think that the once great general of the Dark Kingdom and captain of Prince Endymion's guard could've grown so weak. Face it, you've lost your edge."

"That's it!" Kunzite declared as he jumped a step back. "I've played around with you for far too long! Obsidian Lance!"

With a thrust of his sword, Kunzite fired a pitch-black energy lance across the battlefield at Ace. When the tip of the lance hit Ace in the chest though, the masked swordsman suddenly turned into a storm of playing cards that blew away in all directions. Once Kunzite's attack had ended, the playing cards reformed into twenty duplicates of Ace that surrounded Kunzite in a flash, each one letting out a triumphant chuckle. One of the duplicates charged at Kunzite, only for the silver-haired knight to slash him across the chest. Upon being struck, the duplicate collapsed into a pile of playing cards.

Two more duplicates came at Kunzite, only for Kunzite to impale them both and reduce them to more cards. As Kunzite looked around at the snickering swordsmen, he found that he couldn't tell which of them was the real Ace.

"There's one way I can flush you out!" Kunzite declared as he suddenly thrust his sword into the ground. "Ebony Night Wave!"

As soon as Kunzite stabbed his sword into the earth, a spherical explosion of black energy emanated from his body. A second later the explosion collapsed in on itself and sent a black shockwave out in all directions. The wave cut through all of the duplicates, reducing them to playing cards. Alarmed that none of his opponents were the real Ace, Kunzite quickly drew his sword and kept a sharp eye for where the real Ace might emerge. Suddenly Kunzite heard a twig snap from behind him and turned just in time to block the strike of Ace's blade.

"That was actually an unexpected move you just pulled," Ace remarked as he managed to force Kunzite back. "Guess you haven't completely lost your touch."

Suddenly Kunzite knocked Ace's sword from his hand and then jumped back to put some distance between them. "You are indeed a formidable opponent, but in the end you shall never defeat me!"

"Oh, I don't have to defeat you. I merely need to keep you and that Sailor Guardian intruder busy until the end of Mina's wedding to His Majesty, which should be happening very soon now."

"I will end you long before that happens! There's no way I'll let Minako fall into the clutches of that creature!"

Ace let out a hard laugh. "Hasn't it sunk in yet? I've shown you that your existence only brings Mina suffering."

"That may be, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just stand by and let harm come to her. If you truly loved Minako like you claim to, you'd also step in to stop this wedding!"

"Ah. But you see unlike you, I know my proper place. I realized long ago that Minako and I never had a future together, and that true love would always be out of Minako's reach."

At this, Kunzite let out a small chuckle. "How pathetic of you."

"What was that?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The idea that Minako, the one who personifies the goddess of love, is not meant for a true love of her own is simply absurd. What you truly realized Ace is that even though you were madly in love with Minako, she would never truly be in love with you. I'll grant that perhaps she might've been infatuated with you at one point because of your good looks, but you must've realized that such a relationship with her would've been a fleeting one. So you decided that if you couldn't have her, no one else could, and so you came up with that false prophecy in her head about her destiny. It seems though that her crush on you must've been quite strong to have taken such a prophecy seriously."

"And do you honestly think that your Mina's true love? Because if you do, then you would only be proving my so-called false prophecy to be correct."

"You're probably right about that at least. I'm definitely not worthy of Minako's love. Twice, I have sold my soul to the darkness and became her greatest enemy, betraying her and everything else I held dear. But just because I am worthy of Minako doesn't mean I'll simply stand by and let her fall into even greater suffering than the kind I've inflicted on her! Neither of us may be Minako's true love, but of the two of us, I think I'm the only one who's truly in love with her!"

Ace suddenly gritted his teeth in rage and picked his sword back up. "You know nothing of how I feel about Mina!"

With that, Ace came at Kunzite with full force. His attacks had become wilder and more aggressive. Kunzite found though that he was having little trouble blocking Ace's attacks. Ace had totally lost his cool, and Kunzite realized that for the first time in this battle he now had an advantage against his opponent.

"I adored Mina from the very first time I laid eyes on her!" Ace continued as he continued to strike at Kunzite wildly and force him back. "To me she was a light greater than the sun, but I knew that light could never be mine! But I also realized that no ordinary man could be worthy of her! Don't you see? By telling Minako that true love wasn't in her destiny, I set her free from a constant string of heartache!"

Ace then swung his sword down Kunzite's skull. Kunzite easily sidestepped Ace's attack though and kicked him away. "And you think you're still showing Minako kindness by handing her over to an abomination like your King in Yellow?"

"Don't you see? Only a god is worthy of Mina's heart, and a god who I have given her to! I've proven my love to Minako by guiding her to the only being who could be her true love!"

"That thing you're talking about isn't capable of love! It only intends to use Minako as a tool and a puppet for its own twisted agenda. If my existence only brings Minako pain, then so does yours!"

Ace cried out in rage and charged recklessly at Kunzite again. As the masked swordsman swung his blade at his silver-haired opponent, Kunzite knocked the sword out of Ace's hand. Without hesitating for a moment, Kunzite took Ace's head clean off with a swing of his own blade. As Ace's head and body fell to the ground, both pieces became withered bags of skin and bone. When Ace's mummified head finally dropped to the earth, it rolled over to Kunzite's feet before collapsing into a pile of dust, leaving behind only a tattered and dirty mask. Ace's body had fallen to dust as well, leaving behind and empty and torn uniform.

"Kunzite!" a familiar voice called as the silver-haired general sheathed his sword. Kunzite looked to see Artemis dashing up to him.

"I thought you were with Sailor Brunhilde," Kunzite recalled.

"Brunhilde told me that the only way to stop those soldiers she was fighting was to kill Ace, so I came over here to see if I could help you somehow," Artemis explained. "I did get here just in time to hear most of your little conversation with Ace."

"Minako must've fallen for Ace pretty hard for her to have taken his love prophecy about her seriously."

Artemis nodded. "Mina's always been a sucker for a handsome young face. She'd fall in love, or at least in lust almost at the drop of a hat. Ace was a little different though. Mina's crush on him was stronger than any other she's had. And to be honest, I didn't really object to Mina believing that his love fortune about her was true. I had always discouraged Mina from pursuing these romances of hers because I thought they'd only get in the way of her duty. Maybe if I hadn't done that though, Mina wouldn't be in the mess she's in now."

Kunzite shook his head. "There was no way you could've known that anything like this would happen. And I think Ace was right about one thing. No mortal man is worthy of Minako. Certainly not me."

Suddenly a huge explosion of white light came from not far away. As the light from the blast faded, Brunhilde walked into view. Her long hair was disheveled and an expression of annoyance was on her face.

"About damn time you finished off that masked pretty-boy!" Brunhilde protested. "What the hell took you so long?"

"I'm sorry, but Ace proved to be quite challenging," Kunzite explained.

"Never mind! It probably won't be much longer until Venus's wedding to Hastur gets started. If we don't get to the castle and put a stop to it, everything that just happened here will have been for nothing!"

Both Kunzite and Artemis nodded. Artemis jumped back onto Kunzite's shoulder as he and Brunhilde began to run at top speed towards Hellmouth Castle. As they ran, all three of them prayed that they wouldn't get there too late.

* * *

One-Eyed Pete escorted the King and a terrified Minako out to a large area behind the castle. In this desolate area was a vast gorge so large and so dark that it looked as though it went all the way into the very depths of Hell. A long narrow cliff jutted out from the edge of the gorge over the opening. As the three came out to look, four walking corpses dressed as servants were busy setting up chairs.

"This is where the ceremony will take place," Pete informed the other two. "I trust the site meets with your approval."

The King nodded in response. Meanwhile all Minako could do was stare blankly out at the gorge. The King's presence horrified her too much to allow her to do anything else.

"We shall be ready to begin in half an hour," Pete continued. "I shall inform you when all is prepared."

The King nodded again and escorted a compliant Minako back into the castle. Minako at that moment wanted to flee, but her fear and the burning sensation of the mark on her arm prevented her from doing so. She had been caught tightly in the King's trap. In half an hour both her life and her sanity would come to an end, and she knew there was nothing she could do anymore to stop it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Again, apologies for such a short chapter. As I said at the beginning, I really thought that Kunzite and Ace's battle would end up being a much longer scene. I guess I could've shown more of Brunhilde's battle against Ace's army of darkness, but at the time I felt like that would've just been filler. Plus I'm still not great at doing large-scale battles like that. I am pleased with how Ace and Kunzite's battle turned out though.

Well, in our next installment, the story finally reaches its climax. So until then, please review and let me know what you think.


	12. Everything I Do

**Author's Note:** This next chapter was originally going to be a two-parter, but once again I miscalculated how long the battle scenes in the first half were going to be. And since I didn't want to do two really short chapters in a row, I decided to just go ahead and combine them. Anyway, the title of this chapter comes from the Bryan Adams song of the same name. It seemed like a very appropriate theme song for this next chapter, especially given its setting.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon (or _The King in Yellow_ ).

* * *

Chapter 12: "Everything I Do"

Kunzite, Artemis and Brunhilde finally made it to Hellmouth Castle after several more minutes of running. They had been thankful they hadn't run into anymore of the King's minions since the battle with Ace, but not once did they drop their guard. They were in the very heart of enemy territory and knew that more enemies could strike at any moment. When the three made it to the castle, they found the doors wide open and unguarded. They moved into the entry hall and found that the place seemed totally deserted.

"Are we sure this is the right place?" Artemis asked as he looked around.

"There's no doubt about it. Sailor Venus is here," Brunhilde informed them. "I can sense her power, and Hastur's power as well."

"Then we can't waste another second," Kunzite declared. "Can you tell exactly where Minako is?"

Brunhilde closed her eyes and concentrated. "They're both out behind the castle. My guess is that's where they're going to conduct that mockery of a wedding."

"Let's go then," Kunzite responded.

"I'm afraid we can't let you go any further," a voice interrupted. Kunzite and the others looked to see Sailor Eden emerge from the passageway ahead. "My husband does not wish to be disturbed at this time."

"Eden!" a shocked Brunhilde called. "It's me! Sailor Brunhilde! Do you remember me?"

Eden tilted her head. "Sailor… Brunhilde? That name… it does have a familiar ring to it, but… oh, what does it matter? Everything from my past is long dead. All that matters is that I fulfill my husband's wishes, for He is the living God."

Brunhilde clenched her fists at her sides. "Why did I even call out? You're not Sailor Eden. Only the pitiful shadow of what she once was; her corpse made into that thing's puppet. The best I can do is to try and put you out of your misery."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you intend to fight, then you leave me no choice but to destroy you," Eden spoke before blowing a kiss into her hand. The kiss somehow produced a ball of black energy that took the shape of a heart. "Kiss of Eternal Damnation!"

As Eden threw the energy heart at the three, it quickly grew larger in side. Brunhilde and the others leapt out of the way, causing the heart to strike the doorway and blow a massive hole in the castle wall. Before Kunzite could get his bearings as the smoke cleared, a large figure came at him from another passageway swinging a giant axe. Kunzite jumped out of the way at the last second with Artemis still clinging to his came. The giant who was attacking him was Sailor Omicron.

"Go away!" Omicron shouted as she continued to swing her axe at Kunzite. "Your intrusion only creates more disorder, and disorder cannot be allowed!"

Meanwhile eight black knives glowing with a yellow aura flew for Brunhilde's head. The redhead rolled to the ground to avoid the attack, causing the knives to hit the wall behind her. Brunhilde rose to her feet to discover that Sailor Khali to be the knife thrower.

"You came to interfere with the wedding, right?" Khali asked with a heavy sigh as she approached. "How pointless. It's His will that this wedding happen, and there's nothing that can be done to defy it."

Before Brunhilde could respond to the four-armed woman, a fast-moving object suddenly came down from above firing bolts of yellow lightning in all directions as it cackled madly. The figure turned out to be Sailor AlfHime, who now had a pair of transparent yellow butterfly wings growing from her back.

"You're actually going to fight, right?" AlfHime asked with a mad grin on her face. "So that means there's a chance you could finally kill me, right? Maybe if I try as hard as I can to take your lives, you'll end up taking mine instead!"

With that, the undead fairy fired more lightning blasts down at Brunhilde. The readhead summersaulted backwards three times to avoid each one. Meanwhile, Kunzite blasted Sailor Omicron with an Obsidian Lance attack that knocked her into the wall.

"Kunzite! You and that cat go and stop the wedding!" Brunhilde ordered. "I'll handle these four!"

"You can't possibly take on all of them by yourself!" Artemis told her.

"What happens to me doesn't matter! If we don't stop the wedding, all of this will be meaningless!"

Kunzite nodded and went with Artemis further into the castle. Meanwhile, the four Queens of Carcosa had started to surround Brunhilde.

A tear rolled down Brunhilde's cheek. "Okay you four… I'm going to do everything in my power to end your suffering once and for all!"

* * *

Minako stood out on the narrow cliff extending out over the gorge with her hand clasped in the King's. There mere touch of His armored hand on her skin made her want to leave her body. One-Eyed Pete stood before the two dressed in ornate but tattered yellow and black priest robes, holding a large and evil-looking book in his arm. Sitting in the seats that had been place out before the gorge were Mason, Lyle, a few other members of the film crew and many living corpses. The wedding was just about to begin.

"Subjects of Carcosa!" Pete began. "We are here today to cement the union of His Majesty to yet another fair princess of the stars! Though pointless, I shall still begin my asking those who may object to this union to speak now or forever hold their peace!"

"I strongly object to this union!" a familiar voice called out. The sound of that voice partly broke Minako out of her terrified trance and caused her to look back and see Kunzite standing with Artemis.

The sight of Kunzite caused a tear to roll down Minako's cheek. A part of her had actually thought that Ace had managed to kill him during the film shoot.

One-Eyed Pete let out a heavy sigh. "Well this is disappointing. It seems that Mr. Saijyo failed to live up to expectations. However General Kunzite, your interference now is utterly pointless. Now that His Majesty is here, there's nothing more you can do."

Kunzite ignored Pete's remark and pointed his sword at the King. "Hastur! King in Yellow! I challenge you to a duel to the death! Winner takes Minako's hand!"

Pete broke into a heavy laugh, but the King raised his hand and silenced him. All eyes were on Hastur as he marched forward mechanically and drew the sword hanging at his waist. The sword had a large curved blade with a serrated edge.

"Artemis, get Minako out of here," Kunzite whispered. "I'll keep this thing busy while you escape."

Artemis nodded and dashed stealthily towards the cliff. With all eyes on the King and Kunzite, it was easy for the feline to move without being seen. Meanwhile the King had only come half way towards Kunzite when he swung his blade downward through the air, sending a massive windblast at his opponent. Kunzite quickly raised his arms to shield himself, but the gale still tore parts of his cape, tore cuts into parts of his armor as if they were made of cheap tin, and left deep bleeding cuts on his face. Kunzite nearly fell to one knee but recovered at the last second.

"My word! Ordinarily an attack like that from His Majesty would've simply peeled flesh from bone," an impressed Pete remarked. "It seems I may have underestimated you, General. But in the end you shall still parish!"

Kunzite again ignored Pete and blasted the King with an Obsidian Lance attack. The attack struck the King in his armored chest but didn't even knock him back an inch. Slowly the King continued to march towards Kunzite. Kunzite meanwhile decided to charge the King at full speed. As soon as he came in range, Kunzite impaled the King through his stomach, surprised that his sword could cut into his opponent's armor so easily.

As Kunzite withdrew his sword, a strange buzzing noise began to emanate from the King. The noise almost sounded like chuckling. Suddenly a swarm of sickly yellow wasp-like creatures flew from the hole that Kunzite's had cut into the King's armor and quickly enveloped him. The silver-haired knight attempted to swat the insects away and shield himself as best he could as they stung him relentlessly. Letting out another buzzing chuckle, the King raised his hand and suddenly the insects flew back into the hole in his armor.

Kunzite stood catching his breath, holding himself up with his sword. One of his eyes had swollen shut thanks to a well-placed sting to his cheek by one of the insects. After recovering some of his strength, Kunzite charged at the King again and tried to take off the creature's head. This time the King blocked each of his opponent's attacks, his arm moving like a spring-loaded mechanism. The King parried each of Kunzite's strikes as if he knew exactly where each attack was going to hit.

While all this was going on, Artemis finally managed to sneak up next to Minako on the cliff. "Mina! This is our chance! Let's go."

"I… I can't go," Minako whispered, her eyes fixed on the battle. "It's too late for me. The King pretty much has me now. There's nothing anyone can do to stop it."

"What're you saying Mina? This isn't like you at all! Look, right now Kunzite is fighting with everything he has to let you escape."

"But he can't win. Look at how powerful the King is. Besides, He's already branded me with His mark. No matter what I do or where I go, He'll always have his claws on me."

"Darkest Night's End!" Kunzite called out as he slashed his sword downward and blasted the King with a wave of dark energy.

The energy wave struck the King, but when it subsided the armored creature was totally unharmed. Before the smoke from Kunzite's attack totally cleared, the King slashed his sword through the air and struck Kunzite with another razor-sharp gale. The time Kunzite was nearly knocked onto his back but managed to remain standing.

"Surely you can see General that it's pointless to keep fighting against His Majesty," Pete spoke. "Give up! Let Him grant you a merciful death!"

Kunzite gritted his teeth in defiance. "Never!"

* * *

Brunhilde knocked away more of Khali's knives with her sword before firing a Victory Arrow attack from her sword at the four-armed woman. The attack struck Khali in the stomach and knocked her into the wall behind her. A second later though AlfHime zapped Brunhilde in the back with another blast of lightning from both hands. Before Brunhilde could fully recover, Omicron came at her from the left and knocked her to the ground with the large handle of her axe. As Brunhilde tried to get back up, all four Queens of Carcosa advanced on her.

"Give up. We've won," Sailor Eden told her. "This battle was going to end with your death from the moment it began. We now have you right where we want you."

"Actually, that's my line," Brunhilde told them as she placed two of her fingers on the gold tiara covering her forehead. "Valhalla's Glory!"

Suddenly a blast of white light emanated from her tiara and blew all four Queens away and blasted a massive hole in the wall behind them. As the light faded and the smoke cleared, Brunhilde got back to her feet to look at the carnage. The redhead had hoped that the blasted would have vaporized her opponents, but it seemed that they had only been knocked out. Brunhilde felt sorry for the four, but there was nothing she could do to end their misery. Right now, the most important thing was helping Kunzite and Minako, and she dashed off to the gorge behind the castle, knowing that the two would need all the help they could get.

* * *

Kunzite continued his relentless fight against the King, but no matter what he did he could not even leave a scratch on his opponent. Meanwhile, the King was starting to leave Kunzite with more and more injuries. After the King knocked Kunzite back yet again, the silver-haired general charged at him again. The King then blasted Kunzite with another wind attack. The gale left more cuts, and this time Kunzite really had fallen to one knee, and he was using his sword to prop himself up.

"This is starting to get tiresome," Pete remarked. "Simply give up already, General! You cannot do anything to stop this ceremony."

"I will never… give in," Kunzite declared as he forced himself to stand back up. "I realize that my very existence may cause Minako pain, but despite that I love her. And I will fight and even die to prevent her from falling into the clutches of a monster like Hastur! I will keep fighting until my body is cut to ribbons!"

With that, Kunzite attempted to charge at the King again. Once again though, the King blasted Kunzite with another razor-sharp gale. The time Kunzite was knocked onto his back and appeared to be out cold. The King began to walk back over to the cliff, but the creature had barely gotten two steps when Kunzite suddenly stood back up. Kunzite cried out as he charged at the King once more, and the two once again began to exchange sword blows.

"No… stop… stop it!" Minako called out. "No more! Please!"

"Be silent, Princess," Pete ordered. "Let His Majesty handle this on his own. It will all be over soon enough."

Gritting her teeth, Minako clutched her chest. "Venus Crystal Power… MAKE-UP!"

Suddenly Minako became enveloped in a pillar of golden light that shot into the air. In seconds the light faded to reveal Minako as Sailor Venus. The blond was deathly pale and breathing heavily. Pete and the assembled wedding guests her all shocked to see Venus's transformation, but the King hardly noticed at all.

Just as the King was about to hit Kunzite with another gale attack Minako pointed her fingers at him like a gun. "Crescent Beam!"

A beam of gold light shot from Venus's fingers and struck the back of the King's head. The attack did no damage but caused the King to pause his attack. The masked entity turned around and made a hissing noise at Venus. He raised his left hand and clenched it into a fist. Suddenly the brand of the Yellow Sign on Minako's arm began to burn and glow with a yellow light. Venus shrieked in pain as she dropped to one knee, causing Artemis to become concerned.

Just as the King started to turn his attention back to Kunzite, Venus got back to her feet and charged right in. She fired a Love and Beauty Shock attack that struck the back of the King and caused him to pause yet again. Venus took that opening to move past the King and get between him and Kunzite.

"I don't care what sick things you do to me, but I'm not going to stand by and let the man I love die a third time!" Venus declared with tears in her eyes.

"Well, glad to see that your fire hasn't died away yet," a familiar voice cut in. Venus and Kunzite looked back to see Brunhilde had arrived on the scene, and clutched in her hand was a glowing golden sphere. The King let out another strange hissing noise as the Valkyrie raised the sphere into the air. "Lady Freyja! With this power you have granted me, protect Sailor Venus and Kunzite from this madness, so that the bonds of enslavement may be broken!"

The sphere suddenly flew from Brunhilde's hand and began to grow in size. With lightning speed, the sphere swooped in and enveloped both Venus and Kunzite. The King could only watch as the sphere rose high into the air and continue to grow in size until it became like a miniature sun.

"I'm your opponent now, Hastur!" Brunhilde declared as she pointed her sword at the entity. "In the name of my home world and all of the Sailor Guardians you've managed to corrupt, I shall punish you!"

* * *

Minako and Keisuke found themselves standing in the middle of a vast field of yellow, pink and red flowers. The sky above was colored gold and filled with billowing white clouds. They were both back in their civilian forms, and all of the injuries that Keisuke had sustained while fighting the King had somehow been healed. Minako was dressed in a simple white dress, while Keisuke only had on a pair of long white pants.

"Where are we?" Keisuke asked as he looked around the field.

"I don't know," Minako answered. "I'm more worried about you though. Are you okay?"

"I seem to be. I don't know what Brunhilde did, but whatever it was seems to have totally healed my wounds. Well, the important thing is that I seem to have saved you from that… that creature."

"I honestly don't know why you even bothered," Minako declared as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "You deserve a woman who's way better than me."

Keisuke blinked in surprise and came over to her. "Minako, that's just not true! If anything, I don't deserve you. All I've done in this life and the last one is cause you pain. I may be in love with you, but my actions in both lifetimes have cost me any right to be with you."

Minako shook her head. "I lost all my right to be with you by always pushing you away. In fact I can't help but think that my rejecting you in our first life is part of the reason why you became Beryl's puppet. The main reason I did reject you back then was because I was afraid that my relationship with you would've interfered with my duty to protect Usagi, but I was wrong to do so both then and now. I can't forgive myself for causing you such pain."

"And what about now? Was the reason you chose not to pursue a relationship in this life is because you believed in Ace's prophecy about true love never being yours?"

"I never fully believed what Ace said about me. But it did serve as a reminder of how my duty should always come first. Plus I never met a guy who I ever felt truly in love with, but then I guess… that's because none of those guys were you. No matter how much I try to deny it, you're the one I love most Keisuke. If we had our first lives to live over again, I wouldn't have rejected you in spite of the taboo that existed between our kingdoms back then."

Keisuke smiled and gently caressed Minako's cheek. "I guess we've both made some big mistakes over the course of both the lives we live. But it's not too late to correct them. We've both been given one more chance to be together, so let's take it. I'm willing to see where this goes no matter the consequences."

"I'm willing to take the chance too. I'm still kind of afraid that a relationship between us might cause problems, but I'm willing to take the chance now… because watching you almost die back there made me realize that I can't go on without to anymore."

The two of them looked deeply into each other's eyes, and before they realized it they had both leaned in for a very deep and passionate kiss. As they wrapped their arms around one another while their tongues explored each other's mouths, a swirling white mist surrounded them. I a matter of seconds the mist faded and a large bed with white sheets had appeared behind Minako. When Minako and Keisuke finally pulled apart for air, they discovered that they were both totally naked. Minako's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to Keisuke's rod, and she blushed upon seeing just how large it was.

Keisuke's face had also turned a deep shade of red. "Um… perhaps we should try and find an exit out of this place."

"…No. It's fine," Minako told him as she clutched the end of the bed with her left hand and pressed her rear against it, spreading her legs apart slightly. "I want you to take me."

Taking a gulp, Keisuke nodded before coming in close again. The two of them shared another kiss before Keisuke finally pushed his manhood into Minako's wet entrance. Minako's eyes squeezed shut with pain as her virginity was ripped away from her. Keisuke moved his hips as little as possible to give Minako time to adjust. To try and take her mind of the pain, Keisuke cupped and squeezed the blonde's left breast while planting another deep kiss on her lips.

After a few more moments though, Minako let out a deep moan into Keisuke's mouth while putting her right arm around him. Taking that as a signal that Minako had adjusted, Keisuke broke the kiss and began thrusting into the blonde harder and deeper. Minako wrapped her left leg around Keisuke's waist and grabbed onto his long silver hair. The knuckles of her left hand turned white as she clutched the end of the bed even tighter. Eventually Minako's inner walls began to tighten around Keisuke's rod, signaling him to go faster and deeper.

Then at last in one blissful moment, the two of them climaxed together. Minako felt the warmth of Keisuke's seed erupting into her. In the very same moment they climaxed, the brand of the Yellow Sign completely faded from Minako's arm and her normal skin color returned. Meanwhile the bracelet that Hilda had placed on Keisuke's wrist to bind him to her service shattered. As they both came down from their orgasms, they smiled and pressed their foreheads against one another.

A few moments later after Minako had caught her breath, she moved in to whisper in Keisuke's ear. "Do me until I pass out."

Keisuke's lips curved into a cocky smirk. "Challenge accepted."

* * *

The King swung his sword downward and blasted Brunhilde with another of his razor-sharp gale attacks. Brunhilde blocked the attack by firing another Victory Arrow from her sword. The arrow of light cut straight through the windblast and struck the King in his armored chest. The force of the attack actually knocked the King back a step but still seemed to do no damage. The King was about to launch another blast when he paused. His head jerked upward to look at the glowing gold sphere that Minako and Keisuke had disappeared into, and suddenly he let out a horrific hate-filled roar unlike anything that could be produced by an animal of the earth.

A triumphant smirk formed on Brunhilde's face. "Uh-oh. Looks like your little royal wedding is off. We both know you can only corrupt virgin Sailor Guardians, and from the way you're reacting, I'm guessing that my guy finally fulfilled his mission and deflowered Sailor Venus inside that pocket dimension that my mistress created for them."

"WHAAAAAAAATTTT?" Artemis screamed from where he still was on the cliff, his back arched and his fur standing on end.

"Oh, get over it mouse breath," Brunhilde told him. "The important thing is that we've forever broken Hastur's hold over your master. It can't claim her anymore."

The King had begun to swing his sword wildly in a fit of rage, occasionally decapitating one of his undead wedding guests. Suddenly a twister of pitch-black wind surrounded him and began to expand outward into a full-blown tornado. As the twister grew, the King's mask along with his crown, his tattered yellow mantle, and the pieces of his sword blew out. At the same time, the wedding guests and their chairs were pulled up into the air by the gust. Even One-Eyed Pete was pulled up towards the swirling black vortex.

"Your Majesty!" Pete called at the top of his voice. "There are still other eligible young Sailor Guardians here in this solar system! You can claim any one of them!"

In response, a large yellow tentacle suddenly burst from the black tornado and ensnared Pete, pulling him inside. Several more tentacles shot out at lightning speed and snapped up the wedding guests, including Mason, Lyle and the rest of the film crewmembers that were in attendance. Meanwhile, Brunhilde's body had been glowing with a shining white aura since the tornado started, which was somehow preventing her from being pulled up into the wind. Suddenly Brunhilde heard a familiar scream and saw that Artemis had also been swept up by the storm.

Scowling, Brunhilde leapt high into the air with an incredible jump and grabbed Artemis a split second before one of Hastur's yellow tentacles could snap him up. The Valkyrie landed back near the cliff holding Artemis tightly in her arms.

"Is this what Hastur really looks like?" Artemis asked as he watched the tornado with a horrid fascination.

Brunhilde shook her head. "The tornado is simply hiding Hastur's true form, and for that we should be grateful. If we were ever to look upon what that thing actually looks like, we'd probably go completely insane."

Over the howling black winds, both Artemis and Brunhilde could hear a horrid and loud crunching noise coming from within the twister. They both quickly realized that the noise was that of Hastur devouring everyone it had pulled off the ground and ensnared. Eventually the crunching noise ceased, and the duo watched as the tornado suddenly began to shrink and head towards the castle. A few moments later the tornado bent down and burrowed through the castle's rear door like a worm. After another few moments, the screams of four women could be heard from within the castle, followed by the hard slamming of a pair of heavy doors.

"What happened?" Artemis asked. "Is Hastur gone?

Brunhilde let out a heavy sigh. "Yes. And it took its four brides with it. They've all gone back to Carcosa."

Artemis jumped out of Brunhilde's arms onto the ground. "So what now?"

"All that's left now is to seal this area and make sure that this door to Carcosa can never be opened again."

With that, Brunhilde aimed the blade of her sword at the ground and chanted words of an alien language in an echoing voice. When she finished her chant, the redhead plunged her sword into the earth. Suddenly glowing white lines of alien runes spread from her sword and covered the ground and the walls of the castle. Soon the runes covered the dead forest beyond the castle as well, and then with a blinding flash of light they were gone. At the same time, the dark clouds that had been covering the sky broke apart to reveal a sea of stars.

"It is done," Brunhilde declared as she pulled her sword out of the ground and sheathed it. "The door to Carcosa inside that castle can never be opened again. There's even a chance that life may actually one day return to this blighted area. Of course… that doesn't mean that Hastur is unable to return to Earth. I'm sure there are many other doors on this world that it can come through."

"And what about Mina?" Artemis asked as he looked up at the glowing orb in the sky.

Brunhilde smirked. "Relax you little fur ball. I'm sure your mistress is doing just fine right now."

* * *

Minako was on all fours on the bed as Keisuke plowed into her from behind, both of their bodies covered in sweat. They were now making love for their fourth time in a row, and Minako had become totally lost in pleasure. All of the fear and stress she had been feeling over the past few weeks had been completely forgotten in that moment. The only thing that was there was Keisuke and the feeling of their bodies connecting as they became one. Keisuke tightened his grip on Minako's hips as he rammed into her even deeper, causing her to grip the headboard of the bed for dear life.

In another sweet moment they climaxed together, and Minako saw a sea of white dots flash before her eyes for a few moments. As Keisuke withdrew himself, Minako collapsed onto the bed in a heap as she tried catching her breath. A few moments later Keisuke flipped the blonde onto her back and positioned himself on top of her. The two of them shared another passionate kiss as they waited for Keisuke's manhood to re-harden. When they broke for air again, Keisuke was ready to go once more, and he pushed himself up while pushing his rod back into Minako's entrance.

Minako wrapped her legs around Keisuke's hips and grabbed tightly onto his broad shoulders as he once more started to thrust deep into her core. They gazed deeply into one another's eyes, lost totally in the sensation of their bodies joined together. Another eternity went by until at last they climaxed together again. This time Minako's vision went totally white before going black as she completely passed out. Keisuke had lived up to the challenge that had been given to him.

Keisuke meanwhile felt totally spent. With what little energy he had left, he pulled the blanket over them both and pulled Minako close. Keisuke gave Minako a gentle kiss on the forehead before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. His last thoughts before totally drifting off were of his devotion to the woman next to him, and of how he would give everything he had to protecting her, and to their shared duty of protecting their prince and princess.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well, there we have it. Sorry if the battle scenes weren't all they could been. Honestly, I'm a little afraid that maybe I phoned it in a little with Brunhilde's battle against the Queens. I also probably could've done a little more with the wedding scene. Other than those parts though, I'm fairly pleased with how this chapter turned out. Actually, I'm glad that I was able to get this chapter done right in time for Valentine's Days, as it's kind of appropriate for the occasion. I guess it would've been more appropriate to wait until tomorrow morning to post this chapter, but I was just too excited.

By the way, for those wondering why Hastur's attacks were mainly wind-based, and why he surrounded himself with a tornado during his last final rampage, Hastur was typically depicted as a wind elemental in many of the Cthulhu Mythos stories done after Lovecraft's time. Frankly that whole elemental system never seemed to mesh with Lovecraft's original stories, but it fits into a Sailor Moon fanfic like a glove. Anyway, there's only one chapter left in this story, so stay tuned.

Until next time, please review and let me know what you think.


	13. Up Where We Belong

**Author's Note:** The title for this chapter is from the theme song to the movie, _An Officer and a Gentleman_. Those of you reading can kind of think of that song to the end theme of this whole story. The reason I chose this particular song is because it played in the same dream I had years ago that spawned One-Eyed Pete and his castle of the undead.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own _The King in Yellow_ by R.W. Chambers or the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

* * *

Chapter 13: "Up Where We Belong"

As Minako slowly awoke, she felt the sensation of something pleasantly warm pressed against her body. She soon realized that an arm was wrapped protectively around her, and when she finally opened her eyes she saw Keisuke's sleeping face only inches from her own. Minako quickly blushed, then smiled as she remembered everything that had happened the previous night. She recalled how Keisuke had saved her from falling forever into the clutches of that unspeakable horror, and how they had fully embraced the love they had for one another. After a moment, Minako sat up just slightly and found that they were both somehow back at her hotel room.

"Good morning," a familiar voice spoke. Minako looked and saw that Keisuke had woken up.

"Oh. Hey there," Minako responded as she lay back down. "So, I guess all of that actually happened last night, huh? You were pretty amazing, by the way."

"I did okay. Though in the end I was hardly a match for that creature. If you hadn't stepped in, I might've very well died."

"Actually, I was talking about what we did after the battle."

Keisuke's face turned a deep shade of red. "Oh. Yes, well… you were very good too."

Minako chuckled and gave Keisuke a hard kiss on the lips. Keisuke deepened the kiss and in seconds they were making out. As their tongues once again started to explore one another's mouths, Minako could feel Keisuke's manhood hardening against her crotch. They rolled on the bed until Minako had Keisuke pinned beneath her, and then she broke the kiss and sat up, moaning as Keisuke's rod slid into her. Very slowly, Minako began to rock her hips, while Keisuke's eyes had become totally fixed on her.

As Minako gradually picked up the pace, she grabbed onto the headboard for more leverage. Then suddenly Keisuke grabbed firmly onto Minako's hips and began bucking into her from beneath. Minako's knuckles turned white as her grip on the headboard tightened. Eventually Minako's inner walls began to tighten around Keisuke's rod, and then at last they climaxed in one blissful moment. As they both caught their breath while coming down from their orgasms, they suddenly heard the growling of a cat inside the room.

Both of them looked to see Artemis standing in the open door. His back was arched and his fur was standing on end as he hissed; his glare aimed straight at Keisuke.

"Shit! Artemis! What the hell?" a blushing Minako shouted as she quickly dismounted Keisuke and covered herself with the sheets.

"No way am I just standing by and letting this go on!" Artemis declared. "Mina! What you and this guy may or may not have done last night may have been to save your life, but I can't let this go any further! Now say your goodbyes and tell Keisuke to get dressed and leave! As long as I'm here, I'm not…"

Artemis was cut off when a large pillow hit him in the face. Minako had thrown it out from behind her.

"Out! Get out!" Minako furiously ordered as she pointed at the door. "If you don't leave now, I'm throwing you out the window!"

Artemis opened his mouth to argue, but instead simply grumbled under his breath as he turned and left the room with his tail literally tucked between his legs. Both Minako and Keisuke let out a heavy sigh as he left.

"He's going to be a problem, isn't he?" Keisuke realized.

"Well, he was never one of your biggest fans," Minako admitted. "But he's just going to have to get used to the idea of you and me being together."

"Glad to see you two seem to be doing so well," a familiar voice cut in. Minako and Keisuke looked and saw Hilda sitting in the red chair in the corner of the bedroom in her civilian form, a cup and saucer in her hands and a pleasant smile on her face.

"Hilda!" Keisuke furiously exclaimed as Minako tried to cover herself more. "Just how long have you been sitting there?"

"Just long enough to see you hit mouse breath in the face with a pillow," Hilda answered while taking another sip from her cup.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Minako asked.

"She's a Sailor Guardian from another planet," Keisuke explained. "Hilda, what're you doing here anyway?"

"I'm only here to inform you that your duty to me has now been finished. You'll notice that the little charm bracelet I put on your wrist to keep you in line is no longer there. You're free to go back to the life you had before that witch, Beryl tricked you into serving her again."

Keisuke looked thoughtfully at his bare wrist. "So… I completed my mission last night. I'm a little surprised though since I didn't actually defeat Hastur."

"Well… actually, that was never your mission." Hilda placed her cup and saucer on the small table next to the chair and tented her fingers. "Keisuke, your mission wasn't to defeat Hastur. It was to bed Sailor Venus, making it so that Hastur could never claim her."

"WHAT?" Minako and Keisuke exclaimed together.

"Hey! I was only acting under orders," Hilda told them as she raised her hands in surrender. "My mistress, Lady Freyja felt that this was the simplest way to thwart Hastur."

"And were you ever going to tell either of us the true nature of this mission I was on?" Keisuke asked.

"Oh hell no! If I had told you both from the start that you had to sleep together in order to foil the intentions of an unspeakable horror from beyond, not only wouldn't you have believed me, you would've told me to go to hell. Besides, the two of you clearly had a lot of baggage to work through before you could get to this point."

"Wait a minute… Hilda, when we first met, you mentioned that the other Shitennou were working with some comrades of yours," Minako recalled. "Do they have the exact same mission as Keisuke did?"

"Um… you know, it's probably best not to worry about what the other Shitennou are doing on mission with my fellow Valkyries," Hilda told them as she got back up. "In fact, maybe I shouldn't have told you about this aspect of the mission at all. Anyway, I actually came here for one more reason, and that's to warn you both that we're still in a dangerous time for your world."

"You mean Hastur wasn't destroyed?" Keisuke asked.

"No. That thing merely retreated back to its world when its plan to bed Sailor Venus failed, but the celestial alignment that allows Hastur to exist on our plane of existence isn't going to end for at least several more weeks. Your world is in the middle of a season of chaos. Hastur might very well come back to simply destroy this planet since it can no longer corrupt it into its own image. But Hastur is not the only malignant entity that we need to worry about."

"Are you saying that there are more… things like whatever the King was?" Minako asked.

Hilda nodded. "They are known on many worlds as the Great Old Ones. These creatures are so powerful that they are essentially deities. As we speak, my fellow Sailor Valkyries and the remaining Shitennou are dealing with the other Old Ones and their minions. At the moment, all we can do is hope to keep them at bay long enough to prevent them from ruining this world."

"Isn't there anything that can totally stop them? I mean Keisuke couldn't even wound Hastur, and I certainly didn't do any better."

Hilda looked thoughtfully out the window of the bedroom. "There is only one power that just might be capable of destroying the Old Ones once and for all. Sailor Moon might be the only being in this galaxy that can get rid of them once and for all. But of course it's only a theory." She turned back to face them both, "In any event, just be ready to fight again, for we've likely not seen the last of the Old Ones or their heralds. I shall take my leave now, but I'm sure we will be meeting again soon. Oh, and Keisuke? I left your things in the other room so you can get dressed."

With that, a blinding flash of silvery light filled the room and forced Keisuke and Minako to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Hilda was gone.

Minako let out a heavy sigh. "Well that was heavy. So we might have to go up against that monster all over again, and against monsters that might be even worse then the King."

"If we do, hopefully we can figure out some other way to defeat them that doesn't involve endangering Sailor Moon or the Prince."

Minako nodded. "Hey, Keisuke… about the other three Shitennou working with these Valkyries of Hilda's… if they're also working with Rei, Mako-chan and Ami, do you really think that…"

"Minako, my three comrades are honorable men. You needn't worry about them taking advantage of your friends in any way."

"Yeah. You're right. Of course… now that I think about it, if we had developed feelings for each other in our past lives, you don't suppose that there was also something going on between your men and the girls… do you?"

Keisuke chuckled a bit. "I'm certain we both would've noticed something if there was."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

Keisuke kissed Minako on the cheek. "I'll get dressed and make us breakfast. You just take a little more time to rest. After all, you've been through a lot."

Minako nodded. "Try not to let Artemis scratch you."

Keisuke then found and put on a bathrobe and exited the bedroom. Minako meanwhile turned onto her side and closed her eyes. There was a lot on Minako's mind at that moment, not just everything that had happened since she first came to the village to do the movie that had been nothing more than a trap, but also on everything that Hilda had just told them both about the Old Ones. It was a lot for her to take in. Eventually though Minako managed to put it all out of her mind and doze off.

* * *

It was early in the afternoon as Minako and Keisuke finished packing their bags. In a few minutes, a taxi was to come and take them both back to Japan. After all, there was no longer any reason for them to stay in the village now that the movie they were in had essentially been canceled.

"Well, I think that's everything," Minako declared as she closed her suitcase. "You all squared away too?"

Keisuke nodded. "This journey may be over, but I have a difficult journey of my own ahead of me. I may have back the life I had before Beryl dragged me into her darkness again, but I don't know how I can just walk back into it."

Minako smiled and took his hand. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out. I'm going to help you every step of the way. I'm sure Mamoru will be more than glad to help too. He's going to be thrilled to see you again."

"And I'm eager to see him again as well. Of course… I doubt that all of your other friends will be happy to see me back from the dead." Keisuke looked towards the couch. "I know one friend of yours certainly isn't."

Artemis had been curled up on the back of the couch, and the whole time he had been glaring at Keisuke. Thankfully though, he had been staying silent ever since Minako had hit him with the pillow earlier that morning.

"Well, I certainly don't think Usagi will have a problem with you," Minako assured him. "In fact this'll probably make her day since lately she's been trying to set me up."

Keisuke blinked in surprised. "And just how many of these suitors of hers have you gone out with?"

Minako chuckled. "Relax, every single one of them has been a dud. No reason for you to feel jealous."

"I never said that I was," Keisuke responded before clearing his throat.

Minako rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'm sure the other girls won't have too much of a problem with you either. And if they do then tough."

"You certainly seem confident about all this."

"Well… not totally. A part of me still worries that our relationship might somehow interfere with our duty to protect Usagi and Mamoru, but I've decided that I'm not going to let that fear rule me anymore."

Keisuke nodded and took Minako's shoulders. "Whatever challenges we have ahead for us, we'll face them together."

Minako smiled, and the two of them leaned in for a light kiss. From his spot on the couch, Artemis began to growl.

"Say one word Artemis, and I'm shoving you in a pet taxi and making you ride to the airport in the trunk," Minako warned.

Artemis merely grumbled something under his breath and turned around on the couch so he wouldn't have to watch them.

Meanwhile, just as Minako and Keisuke were about to kiss again, Minako's phone began to buzz. The blonde quickly got out her phone and saw that she had gotten a text. "Oh! It's from Haruka."

"Haruka?" Keisuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sailor Uranus. I totally forgot. You never met her, did you? You really missed a lot those years you were dead."

"I thought you said that the Sailor Guardian of Planet Uranus was a myth," Keisuke recalled, remembering a conversation from their past lives.

"That's what I thought at the time, but all four guardians of the outer planets were reborn here on Earth too."

"Even the guardian of Saturn? You said that she had something of a horrible reputation, if I remember right."

"Hotaru may have the ability to destroy entire planets, but she's actually a very nice little girl. Anyway, it seems that Haruka and the other Outers rented out a whole mansion in the Tanba Mountains for a few weeks, and she's invited me, Usagi, Mamoru and all the others to spend a few weeks there with them."

"Are you going to attend this gathering?"

"Of course! We both are."

Keisuke blinked in surprise. "Mina. I hardly think I have a place there."

"Nonsense. We both need a vacation after everything that's happened. And this seems like the perfect time for you to meet up with the others. Besides, Mamoru is going to be there too."

"Well then… I suppose it's a good thing I don't have any plans for the foreseeable future."

"Yay! I'm sure this trip is going to turn out great."

Suddenly there was a honking noise coming from outside the open window. Artemis quickly dashed across the room to the window to see what the noise was. "The cab's here."

"Guess it's time to leave then," Minako realized.

With that, the two of them walked out of the hotel room hand in hand, dragging their suitcases behind them. Artemis followed them closely, grumbling a little at the sight of Minako and Keisuke holding hands. The couple totally ignored Artemis though, just as they would ignore anyone else who might object to their relationship. Whatever challenges they had ahead of them, whether it be from the Old Ones or their own friends, Minako and Keisuke were ready to take them head on.

THE END

* * *

 **Afterward:** Well, that does it for this story. I'll admit this fanfic probably wasn't my best work. I feel like it might've been better if I knew more about filmmaking and how the film industry works. I also think I might've made Hilda's character a little too harsh. Still, I'm fairly pleased with how this story turned out as a whole. I do wish that this story had gotten a few more reviews, but to those few of you who have been reading and reviewing it, I deeply thank you.

So needless to say, this story is only just the beginning of an entire series I plan to do. I'm of course going to do related stories involving the other Inners and Shitennou. The next story in the series will probably be about Sailor Mars and Jadeite, though that plan's not set in stone just yet. I'm also eventually going to do a related story to all this focusing on Sailor Saturn that ties into all of this.

This story and all the ones I've mentioned are going to have a single sequel tying everything together called: **Revenge of the Old Ones**

I can't say when that story will happen, but it will happen eventually. So until the next time I do a Sailor Moon story, please review and let me know what you think.


End file.
